The Hospital Stay
by dmwcool1
Summary: Buzz Lightyear of Star Command hears from Zurg, the number one enemy to the Galactic Alliance. He faces hard decisions, battles, and know-it-all recruiters.
1. The Note

**I'm back.**

Pushing the glass door to let himself in, the commissioner accepted the welcomes of his fellow colleagues. He collected his mail from the cubbies near the entrance. It wasn't too full -he had had better days- but it wasn't exactly chicken scratch either. Searching through his mail to find the most intriguing envelope to open first, he heard the sound of high heels clicking against the floor. A young woman approached Edward Lightyear as he headed over to his office. Her brown, curly locks of hair bounced against her cheeks and ears as she panted to catch up to his speed.

"Good morning captain Lightyear!" she pronounced, saluting the man.

"Good morning, Trixie," Edward greeted. Normally, he wouldn't use such informality such as addressing a co-worker with her nickname, especially when he could address her with a beautiful name like Theresa, but he had heard her pleads many times before for him to use the name 'Trixie'.

"Well, you know what today is, don't you?" she began. Edward figured, knowing Trixie, never lets him reply to any of her questions that she knew the answer to. "It's the first day of recruitment day! You don't know how many submissions we have gotten so far. The lines are going to be long, I'd be prepared for a slow day today."

"It'd be interesting to see what array of people we attract," he replied, pushing the button on the elevator, "After all, there aren't too many military systems that occupy in the outer space."

"Please, that's easy for you to say," Trixie countered, "Your, like, their hero to them. You're a military legend." She joined him in the elevator and pressed the eighth floor. "Besides, you only have to show up for a couple of hours to train with them. I'm the one who has to get every individual's information put into the system all day."

"But that's because your are very handy with computers. You are the only person I have ever known to take a computer apart, piece it back together in less that two hours. Twice. In the same session." The doors opened and the workers strolled to room 834.

"I suppose your right. But it's still not my ideal reward for my technological skills by entering thousand of entries a day," she joked, sitting in a chair opposite to his desk.

Taking a deep breath, Edward blew it out as he sink into his chair and pulled himself to his desk.

"It seems all I do is work," he jested half-heartedly.

"Buzz, I have a question I want to ask you,"

He raised his eyebrows in shock. "'Buzz'?"

"Yes, I know your nickname just like you know mine. I learned it from the boys."

"Please, _Theresa_," he started, ignoring her moan, "lets keep our formality down to a minimum."

She gave him a smirk. "Then you are really going to hate the next question I'm going to ask you." Buzz looked up from the paperwork he was signing.

"Yes?"

Trixie watched him for a second and looked down at her hands, almost in a defeated conduct. "Nothing. It's just… we worry about you, Edward. We see you work till the darkest hour. You're a workaholic. You look exhausted and if you excuse me assuming your personal life, you don't seem to take time for yourself and relax."

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. Hard work has gotten me where I am today. And I don't want this subject to be brought up again, understand me? I'm hearing enough of it from the others."

"Yes, sir." There was a long silence as he ripped open envelopes.

"Thank you for caring about me," he finally said, noticing Trixie's posture straightening slightly. "It's comforting to know that my staff looks after me." Slipping a folded letter for its envelope, Buzz opened it, shocked at what he had just discovered. The letter was hand-written instead of typed; Buzz at first had trouble reading the cursive letters.

_Captain Edward Lightyear of Star Command-_

_I wish for your company at my palace. _

_-Zurg_

Buzz flipped the paper to the back. Nothing.

"What is it?" Trixie questioned, noting Buzz's furrowing brows.

"Emperor Zurg wants me to meet up with him. Alone," he whispered, staring at the note and calculating the words. "I can't risk it. He has led many revolts against this government and his power is increasing. He's getting more followers." He looked up at Trixie. "He's a threat and our number one public enemy. I can't risk it."

"Can't risk what? Going by yourself?"

"Yes. Trixie, I'm going to have a word with the recruiters," Buzz informed, looking out the window. There was a line of potential, waiting soldiers forming already by the door. They all appeared to be so tiny. "I want you to get started with the application process."

"Yes sir," Trixie agreed, getting up to leave the room. Buzz took his phone off the receiver on his desk and dialed for the forth floor.

"Sergeant Pride, I need to have a word with you."

* * *

><p>"So this is all he wrote you?" the sergeant asked while he read the letter. "There was nothing else in that envelope?" Woodrow "Woody" Pride and Buzz Lightyear had a close relationship, probably the closest friendship in the whole squadron. Yet, to their own and their other associates' amusement, the two completely contradicted each other from their physical form to their personalities. Woody's form was long and slender while Buzz's height was shorter than the average man but toned with healthy muscles. Woody's tender brown eyes contrasted his counterpart's serene, azure orbs. Woody didn't seem the type to be interested in joining military forces (and he didn't initially) while a person wouldn't expect anything else but an army mentality from Buzz by his formal demeanor. Buzz's rugged and sometimes even loud voice differed with Woody's calm tone. But they both cared for each other deeply. However, living the dangerous lives of space rangers, they never knew if they were going to see each other the next day. Or anything for that matter.<p>

"Yes," Buzz answered. "I don't know what this means, Woody. I'm clueless whenever it comes to Zurg's intentions. Always have been."

"Do you think he's going to declare war? Or invade?"

"He's going to cause some sort of trouble. I just have now idea when, where, or how…"

"Are you planning on seeing him, partner?" Woody being born and raised in the state of Texas led him to occasionally slip up southern slang without awareness. This habit always caused an internal snicker in Buzz when hearing it.

"I feel obligated to," Buzz admitted. "I just can't see him alone. He can't be trusted. I need back up."

"You mean sending in troops?"

"Precisely."

"How many men?"

Buzz paused for a moment to think about his friend's question. "Not too many. I would want to send the message that we will protect ourselves but I don't want to pose as a threat for him. I mean, he are going to _his_ empire."

"I understand. Two hundred men perhaps?"

"Yes. I agree to that," Buzz confirmed, extending his palm, "Thank you for coming up, Woody."

"No problem, Buzz," he responded, reaching to shake his hand. As Woody grasped his hand, his grip became looser and he looked at the captain, frowning. "Are you OK about this? This whole situation?" His tone of voice had switched from stern to his trademark caring manner. Buzz observed his worker's face for a heartbeat.

"Just wish I didn't have to do this," he finally retorted after hesitating, pulling his hand away. A sympathetic expression came across Woody's face.

"Oh!" Woody exclaimed, causing Buzz to jump and snap out of his thoughts. "My sister is coming on Wednesday. She found a couple of elders to take care of the ranch. Don't worry: she's fully qualified. She has attended four years of college and passed all the necessary military tests and completed boot camp." He laughed while recalling a memory. "Before enrolling in boot camp she was worried about her hair. She was freaking out. She didn't know that men only shaved their hair, but of course I want to tease her. I told her that she was going to be bald by time she joined the army. To her pleasure, she found out that her hair could be kept on her head but the tips couldn't touch her collar bone. Her hair was pretty much that length anyway, so a huge breath of relief flew out of her body. Along with a well deserved punch to me from her."

Buzz let out a chuckle. "What's your sister's name? Have I seen her before?"

"Jessica. But she likes to be called Jessie. You've never met her before. She's a big ball of fire like the color of her hair. I may have shown a picture of her before to you. She's thin, has green eyes, about my height."

"Great, another person who's taller than me," Buzz joked.

"And she can shoot guns like her big brother here. In fact, she may even be better than me."

"Better than _you_? I didn't think that was possible, you're one of our best gunmen. If she's _at least _as good as you, we many only need the three of us to take down Zurg."

_If only._

**I gotta be honest, I know nothing about the military besides the rough research I did on the inernet. So if some of it doesn't make any sense, just remember that I know nothing about the army and go with it ;-)**

**Also, sorry that my writing is a little rusty. I figured that since I did an AU in the western/cowboy times, why not the space/future?**

**And please review! They really mean a lot to me. Even if it's just one word like 'cool' still makes me the happiest person around. Critiques are welcome as well, I want to improve my writing in fiction.**


	2. The Attack

**Sorry that this chapter is really bad!**

Watching the new applicants, Buzz chanted counts while the aspiring soldiers did jumping jacks.

"One, two, one two!" he shouted, pacing back and forth across the room. His thoughts traced back to when he first entered the army at the tender age of eighteen. In his case, the strict regime and intense activity was not a complete shock for him due to his attendance at military school in the initial years of his adolescence. Every time recruitment applications arrived, he would observe each of the laboring young men in front of him doing the exercises he commanded them to perform which caused him to reflect on how he got the military position he had achieved currently. It seemed odd to him: most of these men were just boys, about most of them would have already arrived the tender age of eighteen, he guessed. And yet, he was only nine years prior to the unanimous age of the men and yet had to behave as if he were many years elder to them, and according to him, and full of experience. Despite the assumptions others made in the past- the assumptions that Buzz was truly prepared to promote as captain- he actually felt unwary about the idea of it at the time of his promotion. He still felt that way, presently, but he couldn't let any of the other staff discover his opinion. He needed to show bravery rather than self-doubt.

The sounds of the young men's claps over their heads, smacks on their thighs as they pulled themselves together into a perfect erect position, and responses to Buzz's calls created the ever-present orderly atmosphere in the room. He felt a tap on the shoulder, causing him to jump a little but immediately grow serious again. It was Trixie and he noticed by the expression on her face, the news was concerning. She nervously wrung her hands on the clipboard she was carrying and the bags from her eyes due to exhaustion from entering the appliers extruded tremendously. She informed him that General Porkham would like a word with him. Buzz turned to his assistant, Stanley "Slinky" Varney, who took over for Buzz while he spoke to Trixie.

"Continue training the men," Buzz ordered in a hushed tone, "General Porkham requested me to speak to him in his office."

"Yes sir," Stanley quickly blurted before overlooking the exercising soldiers again.

* * *

><p>"What the <em>hell <em>are you thinking, Lightyear?" a portly man asked Buzz with a hint of frustration. He intertwined his pudgy fingers with each other and rested them on his protruding belly while leaning back on his chair that exerted a trivial squeak. Buzz watch him purse his lips underneath the russet mustache that hugged his mouth. "I heard from Sergeant Pride that you wish to send two hundred troops to Zurg's empire. Am I correct?"

"Yes sir, you are," Buzz responded, mirroring his gestures.

"Lightyear," the general sighed, readjusting his nameplate on his desk, "it seems as if you are _asking_ for a battle to happen." Buzz started to speak but was cut off. "I understand that I have no part in your decisions but I strongly advise against it. What you are doing is- a excuse me for saying this- a careless idea on your end."

General Porkham, or "Hamm" as others called him for both his appearance and name, was of 47 years of age who was well experienced in the aircraft industry. Buzz looked over to a small picture on the wall of the general with what he guessed to be from twenty years ago. His trademark facial hair was gone, exposing a young, youthful face. His well-known round-tip nose remained the same throughout the years. He was saluting the camera with a war aircraft placed behind him. Judging by the symbol on his arm jacket, Buzz concluded that he must have been a lieutenant at the time. He figured that Mr. Porkham became lieutenant about three years older than himself but he soon remembered that the air force had a different ranking system than the army.

"It may _seem,_ as you put it, careless," Buzz started to say, furrowing his eyebrows as he turned to the older man, "But I assure you I know Zurg's tactics. I've dealt with him in the past before."

"Yes but we haven't heard from him for month now. Wouldn't you agree that sending in troops would send the wrong message?"

"That's the thing that worries me the most." Buzz's voice was almost in a harsh whisper that caused the general to strain his hearing. He soon snapped out of his swirling thoughts after a long silence and straightened his body again. "What if he's planning something? Something _dangerous_? He specifically sent me a note to see me only. I can't take any risks for what he has planned." General Porkham shook his head once.

"I think you're getting a little paranoid-"

Suddenly, they heard a voice over the intercom that told everybody in the building to evacuate. They then felt the floor underneath them vibrate along with a muffled group of screams a shrieks. The two men looked at each other in bewilderment. The next moment their bodies jarred forward and they found themselves under the desk as glass flew towards them. They felt a strong, warm wind that nearly dispersed the desk that protected the two military leaders. It didn't see real to Buzz, his body became numb to the surrounding events as his hearing deadened. He shut his eyes as he dug his nails into the carpet supporting him beneath his body. The clamor had grew softer and the two men did not hesitate to dash to the door. Buzz froze sharply by the opening, surveying the spectacle ahead of him. His associates who had been completely adapted to the customary monotonous workday were now scampering and bellowing to the nearest emergency stair exits and transporters.

"Lets go!" General Porkham demanded in Buzz's ear, causing him to snap out of his trance.

They ran to the nearest transporter and forced themselves to squeeze into it. Buzz pressed the button and immediately had his vision blocked by a brilliant azure beam. As it faded, just like he anticipated, found himself in the receptionist area where he had initially started his work day.

"This way," he announced, pulling on Porkham's jacket sleeve. As they ran outside, they collided into numerous amount of bodies. They were all looking at the sky. They found what had caught their eye: a substantial cosmic vessel. It was all too familiar.

_Zurg._

Everybody gazed in awe, unable to take action. They watched it shrink in size as it ascended towards the clouds. Buzz twisted around to look at the building and a portion of the architecture, he saw, was occupied with flames. His hearing was still softened, but the visuals he witnessed started to bring the sound back. He listened to voices of cursing and crying and yelling and prayers and…

He turned to General Porkham who had stood behind him during the whole scenario.

"Do you still think my decision is careless?" his shaky voice questioned.

* * *

><p>"The reports are still coming in and so far they are saying that forty-two workers have been killed in the shooting," Buzz informed, rubbing his eyes. Both he and Woody were in his car, parked by a little café blocks away from the scene of the incident. Buzz looked at the car clock; the green numbers showed him that it was 6:48 P.M. "They only shot once by the third floor. Luckily their aim was off, otherwise it would have been a lot worse. The whole building could've completely collapsed."<p>

"It's strange," Woody responded after a stifling stillness, "You hear about these things on the news all the time. It's one thing to see all the number of deaths on screen, but to know the people is a whole 'nother thing. I don't understand how we survived it. I really don't."

"I'm guessing we have to evacuate to the underground station," Buzz concluded. He looked at Woody to hear a reply but received nothing. He could barely make out the expression on his face but the streetlight seemed to peek over him that had shown a partial silhouette. His figure was slouched and he nervously shook his legs while rubbing his face with his hand.

"Mmm-hmm," Woody reacted, turning his head to look out the window. Buzz's face tightened in worry.

"I-is everything alright?" he asked in a sincere voice.

"Yeah," he answered, opening the car door. "Come on. Lets, uh, grab something to eat." For the rest of that night, the topic would not be brought up again.

**I CAN'T THINK OF A TITLE AND IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY! If you have an idea for a title PLEASE feel free to tell me 'cause I need the help! **

**Thank you for those who have favored and review this story! Please review!**


	3. The Hideout

**Thank you my supporters.**

After three days given to them to recover from the assault by Zurg's ship, the Galactic Alliance workers wasted no time transferring into their new location: the region underground in the metropolitan city of Eastwood Town. It had been established in the decade of the 1950s when the government use to test nuclear bombs. The grounds by Eastwood Town were still severely damaged, but due to modern technology to find and fend off the radiation, there was virtually no danger from emission of the weaponry explosions. It was rather nicely built. It expanded ten acres with sizable tunnels that even the tallest men could easily walk through. Of course, approximately in the next decade when the space exploration grew, the Galactic Alliance had purchased it and began renovating the area to make it customable and accessible for them to use technology.

Edward Lightyear had strained the discipline on his latest soldiers to prepare them to advance towards their expedition to defeat Zurg the following week. Meanwhile, the other personnel had to continue shipping their items from their primary workplace to the new hideout.

"May I come in?" asked a female voice at Buzz's ajar door. Woody had been the first colleague of the whole organization to finish moving into his office first, so he volunteered to help Buzz out with his.

"Yes, Dorothy," Buzz approved, setting down a box on his desk. A stunted woman walked through the frame twirling her ends of her hair with her fingers.

"We aren't in Kansas anymore, aren't we?" joked Woody, nudging her with his elbow.

"Ah ha, a Wizard of Oz reference. How clever," she mocked, crossing her arms. "But I relate to more of the _wicked_ Witch of the West if you ask me." Corporal Dorothy "Dolly" Hunt had joined the army in recent years on- what she revealed to Buzz after being promoted- a dare. Her friends had pushed her to join a boot camp for one week without giving up. They all wagered in $500, her friends sure that she would've lost. She spent her winnings on a new necklace.

"You wish to speak to me?" Buzz probed, ignoring their tacky banter.

"Yeah, someone's here to see Potsy," she informed pointing to the cowboy with her thumb. As she exited the door, a young woman galloped into the room, immediately wrapped her arms around Woody, and jumped up to embrace her legs around his waist in eagerness. She repeated his name (loudly) in his ear and told him how much she missed him back at home.

"OK! OK!" he responded, patting her on the back, "My goodness, Jessie, you know that I'm getting to old for this!" She pulled away from nuzzling his neck and gave him an expression of disbelief.

"Too old, huh?" she shot back, extending out her arms, "Since when was 32 _too old_?" She straightened out her legs and placed both feet on the floor, hold his shoulders. "My, my, I don't remember ya bein' this tall!"

"Ah yes," he retorted in jest, "I forgot to mention that I hit a growth spurt last month."

"Aw, cut it out! Stop foolin' with your sister's head. I haven't seen you in-"

She cut herself off in mid-sentence and bashfully ran her finger through her scarlet hair as she peered over her brother's shoulder.

"My apologizes," she mumbled, positioning her foot over her other boot's tip, "I didn't see ya there." As she walked towards the captain by his desk, she gave Woody a small smack on his arm. She held out her arm and smiled. "Hello. I'm Jessica Jane Pride and I'm an enlisted private. I've been one for six months now."

"Edward Lightyear," he introduced, grasping her hand "I'm the captain. I take it you are Woodrow's little sister." Jessie almost snuck out a giggle Buzz's use of Woody's full name but then saluted him.

"Yessir." As Buzz raised an eyebrow, Woody gave a hearty guffaw.

"You haven't heard a Texan accent until you've heard my sister talk," Woody jested, leaning on Buzz's desk.

"I was so worried about you, Woody," Jessie admitted turning to her sibling, "When I heard about the attack I felt numb all over. I didn't hear from ya or anythin'."

"We were moving workplaces, Jessie," Woody defended, "I'm sorry I couldn't write to you. But I'm here now." Jessie perked up at the idea that popped into her head.

"C'mon," she said, grabbing his hand, "Lets explore this place. I wanna tour!" Before Woody could open his mouth to say anything, Buzz cut in.

"I'm sorry, but your brother and I need to discuss some issues." Jessie exchanged glances between Woody and Buzz, slowly releasing Woody's hand.

"Oh…ok," she murmured disappointedly, "I-I guess I got carried away." A grin rose on her face again. "Look atcha, Woody, being a big sergeant an' all." She faced Buzz again and flashed a toothy smile. "Nice meetin' ya again," she announced, tapping him on the forearm.

"Pleasure's mine," he answered apathetically as he filed his papers on the desk.

* * *

><p>After closing the door, the cowgirl leaned against it and breathed a long exhale. Her body slumped onto the doorframe as she peered at the traveling employees. She tried to make out the muffled voices in Captain Lightyear's office with no good luck. She gave up and tapped her fingernails on the door handle near her right hip. Suddenly, unexpectedly, a blond perked up next to her which caused Jessie to flinch.<p>

"Do you need help?" the woman asked, leaning in, "This is Captain Lightyear's office. Do you wish to speak to him?" Jessie twisted her body to look at the door she was resting on and noticed that she was still holding the door handle.

"Uh, no," she responded, holding her own hand, "I just finished speakin' to him actually."

"Are you on your way somewhere?"

"No, I guess not. I'm kinda new here."

"New!" the woman proclaimed, holding her face with her hands, "You poor thing! And you don't even know where everything is. Here, I'll show you around." Before Jessie could object, she found herself being dragged by the vigorous stranger.

"Oh I-"

"My name's Barbra Carson. But you can call me Barbie," the woman introduced herself as she dodged movers with boxes, "I forgot to say my name! Silly me. What's yours?"

"Jessica Jane Pride. But you can call me Jessie for short." Recognition took over Barbie's face as her mouth dropped when she halted to turn to her companion.

"So _your_ Woody's sister! I feel like I already know you. Woody's been talking about your arrival here for a while now."

"Really?" Jessie mumbled with slight satisfaction as she felt Barbie tug on her arm again.

"Oh yes," Barbie confirmed, "You're like a celebrity around here. He's been talking about you and telling stories about you and-" Abruptly, she froze in her tracks, unaware that Jessie almost collided into due to being dragged this whole way. "Let's get something to eat," Barbie suggested, looking over her shoulder. Before Jessie could even mutter her reaction, she found herself being pulled to the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>After grabbing their food, the two girls had set themselves at a table near by the exit door. The dish special was meat loaf with a side of split peas. Jessie, however, wasn't hungry at the time so she spent most of her time poking at the food while listening to Barbie talk. She had to admit that at first it was unsettling to meet such an odd character like Barbie but she soon grew fond of her.<p>

"I wasn't too sure why I wanted to join the army," the blond admitted as she cut her split pea in half, "I was just a regular Malibu girl who enjoyed the occasional party or two. I went to college at the University of Pixsney where I studied liberal arts and managed to graduate with a four year degree. I met my husband there and it was instantly love at first sight." She popped the pea into her mouth as her eyes glistened. "We adopted a baby about a year ago. We named her Brenda but we nicknamed her Big Baby because she was so chubby. My husband, Ken, was a police officer while he attended college. Maybe that's I became so interested in the law and politics. I don't know. So, what's your story?"

"Oh uh," Jessie stammered, searching the room, "It's nothin' special. I went to college and got my veterinary assistant's degree. I worked as a veterinary's assistant at the local animal hospital for a while but unfortunately I had to compensate my hours to watch over my ranch in Texas since Woody was in the army. My folks were in a nursin' home at the time. Luckily, some old family friends, the Petersons or Potatoheads we called 'em for their gardenin' skills, volunteered to watch over the ranch on the count of them sellin' their home after their triplets moved out. After that, I enlisted for the army."

"Texas, huh?" Barbie cooed, "Boy, I would love to go to Texas someday. What was that like?"

"Well-" Jessie then felt a warm hand on her shoulder and looked up. "Hey Woody. How was the meetin'?"

"Wonderful," he remarked. "Howdy Barbie."

"Hi Woody," she greeted, slicing her meatloaf, "We were just talking about Texas and getting to know ourselves a little better."

"Swell. Looks like you two are having a great-"

"Oh!" Barbie cut in, placing her hand on Jessie's forearm, "I'm sorry, honey, but I promised Stretch to help her out with something. I was having such a good time with you that I didn't even bother once to look at the clock! You'll get along without me, will you?"

"I'll try my best," Jessie answered with a grin.

"Awesome! And maybe when we'll go on the mission we can get beds near each other!" As the Pride siblings watched Barbie spring up and ran out of the room, Jessie dropped her plastic fork on the plate of food.

"Mind if I join you?" Woody probed, gesturing to the seat across from his sister.

"Go for it," Jessie invited, plopping her chin into the palm of her hand.

"What's on your mind?"

"You read me like a book, doncha?" she sighed, setting her hand down on top of the other one, "Captain Lightyear isn't a big fan of me it seems."

"What would give you that idea?" Jessie rose her eyebrow in slight irritation.

"Didja see how much it pained him to even shake my hand? And I don't even think the guy looked me in the eye _once_. If fact, he probably didn't even look in my general direction."

"Oh, Jess," Woody rebutted, sweeping his hand away from Jessie's assumptions, "I've worked with him for a few years now. He's just naturally a little cold to newbies. _Trust_ me when I say this, he'll warm up to you. He grew up in a military environment so he doesn't really know any better when it comes to people skills. He's just going through a lot of stress right now."

"Yeah well…we'll see," Jessie concluded, "It's not that it bothers me that a person doesn't like me but it's an _important_ person. As in, the guy who's in charge." A voice projected from the intercom publicizing that all recruiters and soldiers shall meet in the auditorium. There was important news to be announced.

* * *

><p>"What d'ya think is goin' on, Barbie?" Jessie questioned as she settled herself in the seat next to her. She watched as the other army volunteers made their way into their chairs. Turning her attention to the stage, she saw her brother whispering to a group of officials. Nodding his head, they all faced the forming audience and stood erect as they place their hands by their sides.<p>

"I think their going to announce the mission date," Barbie informed.

Jessie crossed her arms as she reclined in her chair. The mission Barbie must have been talking about was the plan to invade Zurg's empire that she's heard all about on the news. She's fought in a couple of battles before, but never in space. Although it intimidated and scared Jessie at the thought of being in the outer space, it also excited her.

"Hello, I'm Captain Edward Lightyear of Star Command," Buzz proclaimed into the microphone. "Three days ago, the Star Command was shot at by the ships of Zurg, causing us to lose 42 lives of those who have contributed their time and effort to strengthen the Galactic Alliance. The day before, I personally received a letter from Zurg wishing for my attendance at his palace. In result of the letter the following day, my associates and I decided that it was crucial to send troops to his empire for protection of this planet and ourselves. Our staff members in the recruiting department are currently sending out drafts to those who will join us to our combat battle at Zurg's palace. If you receive the draft, you are expected to show up at this very auditorium tomorrow morning at 4 AM. We will then proceed to travel to our station on Captain Planet. Any questions?" Nobody raised their hand. "Good. If you are drafted, I will see you in the morning. You are dismissed."

**So what did you guys think of it? Third time's a charm or bad things comes in threes? Please review!**


	4. The Shuttle

**Hola! So I'm sorry abot the last update. I uploaded the fourth chapter but then realized that I left out some important story plots that I wanted to squeeze (literally) into this chapter. **

Jessie woke up to a jarring thud near her ear. Slowly exposing her exhausted emerald eyes as her eyelids rose, her memory escaped her at the moment as to the reason why she was in the mysterious apartment she was residing at. As she rubbed her face, she soon remember that she had accepted Woody's offer to stay at his residence the night before. Resting her face into the pillow again in front of her, she felt a bag plummet onto her backside and she emitted an annoyed groan.

"Get up," she heard a stern voice demand. Rolling over, shielding her eyes from the radiance that was bursting from the ceiling lamp, she distinguished her brother pacing around the room while gathering possessions to place into the suitcase in front of him.

"Why?" she mumbled, embracing her pillow tighter.

"Because we have to be at the auditorium in an hour," he explained, buttoning his shirt as he glanced in his mirror.

"An hour?" she questioned, searching for a clock. After discovering the digital timer on the side table next to the bed, she read the time to be 3:08 AM. She then saw a small blue beam coming for a minuscule device from what it appeared to be a paperweight. The letters on the appliance flashed her name in green letters right above a large button. As she pressed it, the blue beam stretched out as tiny words began typing out a holographic message.

"That's your drafting letter," Woody explained, zipping his luggage shut, "It was sent while you fell asleep yesterday in the evening."

"Goin' through my mail, huh?" she inquired, getting up to stretch out her arms.

"As your brother and sergeant, I believe I have the right to," he defend with a smirk, "Besides, you wouldn't have even read it because you would still be asleep."

"Well, this is a neat lil' contraption 'ere," she yawned as she stood up. "What do I need to pack?"

"The maximum suitcases you should pack are probably two. Take whatever clothes you want to take and other items that you think you'll need. Since you already brought a couple for your trip here, it's best to just take those with you," Woody answered, heading to the kitchen, "Do you like your eggs scrambled?"

"Always have," she confirmed, squirting toothpaste onto her toothbrush.

* * *

><p>The boarding of the spaceship had occurred after thirty-three minutes when the Prides had arrived at the auditorium. Jessie was taken in by the size and structure of the boarding ship. It was blindingly white, especially as the lights surrounding the interior of the station shown on it, and strips of amethyst and lettuce green hugged the ship. As she approached the ship, the heat grew stronger and she had to push down on the top of her cowgirl hat in order for it not to blow away.<p>

"You OK?" Woody asked between laughs as he peered his sister's expression.

"Never been better," she answered. She scrunched her face as the warmth blew her hair over her face. The ride over, however, was surprisingly calm and smooth. Woody had led Jessie into the shuttle and told her that he'd see her 'later'. She asked him what she meant by his statement but he only gave her a smirk as his sister stood on the steps to the boarding shuttle entrance. She watched apprehensively him sauntering away from her as their distance grew. Shrugging her shoulders, she took out her ticket to show to the flight guards and found her seat. Her slumber caught up with her and barely settling herself in her chair near the window, she drifted off into sleep. After taking a nap for a handful of hours, Jessie woke up to a familiar blonde next to her. The woman gave her a cheer smile along with an enthusiastic wave.

"Hi!" she chirped. "I saw you sitting here alone and I've decided to make myself comfortable. I hope you don't mind." The yawning cowgirl rapidly placed her hand over her mouth as she stretched her legs in front of her.

"No, I don't-"

"Oh!" she cut off, patting the back of the seat in front of her, "Jessie, I'd like you to meet Susan and Mira."

"Susan? Please," the girl groaned as she faced Jessie, "Call me Stretch." She held out her tanned hand to shake Jessie's as she exposed a warm smile.

"Nice tuh meet ya. I'm Jessie," she introduced and shook her hand, turning to the other girl, "And I take it your Mira?"

"The one and only," she confirmed, crossing her arms on the seat, "Mira Nova. It's always nice to see another redhead on the force." Jessie emitted a guffaw and she darted her eyes back and forth to glance at the two new women she had just met.

"And I'm Barbie!" the jubilant female exclaimed.

"Yes don't worry, I remember you!" Jessie jested with a playful swat.

"Woody came by here earlier to tell me to tell _you_ that he's at the front of the ship with a special someone that he really wants you to meet," Barbie informed, "I wonder who the special somebody is! Do you have an idea who it is, Jessie?" The cowgirl pondered for a moment as she pulled her knee to her chin.

"Hey who wants to play a card game?" Stretch asked after a long silence. "C'mon, lets play hearts." Jessie jerked her head to snap out of her swirling thoughts as she received a group of playing cards.

"Oh Stretch…" Mira sighed, looking down at her pile, "I feel like all we do is nothing but play cards the whole entire day." Stretch raised an eyebrow at the combatant.

"Then lets make it interesting," she advised, clipping off her bracelet and hanging it over the seats to have Jessie and Barbie see. "Real silver."

"Stretch," Mira groaned, "You _know_ that gambling isn't allowed in the regime, do you?"

"I never asked you to place anything, princess. Barbie, what d'ya got?" The female ranger looked around for a moment and reached into her bag. After scrambling in her sack, she felt something between her fingers and brought it out for the girls to see. Holding up a pair of sunglasses, a smirk seeped from her face as she laid it on the armrest next to her.

"Real Gucci," she countered. Soon after, Mira unfastened the first button on her shirt to reveal a charm necklace. The charm was amber that was lined with a brass border.

"Nice, nice," Stretch approved, "what d'ya have, Jessie?" The Texan took off her hat and laid it on her lap.

"It's all I got for now," she admitted sheepishly, "My bag is locked up in the back of this shuttle." For the next twenty minutes, the four space rangers found themselves heavily engaged in their card game. Occasional cheers and continuous laughter came from the cluster and disturbed their associates near them. Stretch would sporadically snap back at the complaining recruiters in levity and quickly resume her cards at hand. Barbie couldn't help but show her emotions on her face whenever she got a new set of cards. Jessie would exchange looks with Mira periodically in soundless laughter whenever Barbie would mumble a worried phrase like 'oh dear' or just a distressed 'oh…'. A robot who appeared to be about three and half feet readjusted his coke-bottle lenses as he approached the gambling troops.

"What seems to be going on here?" he asked, peering over the card game, "Are you guys playing _cards_?"

"Yeah," Stretch answered, "And _betting_ too." The robot dropped his mouth in shock and waved his arms.

"Y-you can't do that here! No no! That's against the _regulation_!"

"Aw, take a little break, XR," Mira suggested, fiddling with her cards. "We'd love your company again."

"Yeah, you're the one who gave me these deck of cards, 'memba?" Stretched probed.

"Yes, yes," he stammered, looking around, "But not for _gambling."_

"Actually, I should get goin'," Jessie cut in, placing her hat back onto her head, "I don't want Woody to wait any longer. You can take my place Mister…"

"Oh, please excuse me!" the robot gasped, retracting back his helmet while grabbing Jessie's hand to kiss, "My name is XR. I am Captain Lightyear's experimental ranger. Are you sure you wouldn't mind me taking your place?"

"Not at all," she assured, stepping over Barbie's lap into the aisle way, "Have fun, XR, I have a good hand!"

* * *

><p>At the end the aisle way towards the front, Jessie spotted her brother waiting for her. Next to him, there stood a slender woman with a beaming smile. Wringing her hands, the female looked over to Woody and mouthed a question that Jessie couldn't hear. As Jessie approached the couple, there was a quality that the woman had to kept Jessie's vision on her.<p>

"Jessie, this is _the_ girl: Bo," Woody introduced, turning towards the blond. Jessie immediately broke out into a smile as she threw her arms around the gentle female. During the first few months of Woody's army participation, Jessie had written to her brother constantly to ease the pain she felt of his absence. He mentioned meeting a nurse to her one day and updated her on their progress together. Jessie wasn't one to be interested in romance but knowing her brother and loving him, she was pleased that he was happy in such a profession. One day, the cowgirl received a letter from a stranger along with a picture and she soon found out that it was the very woman that Woody had been raving about. Jessie took another look at Bo. She felt as though she's met up with an old, familiar friend.

"I swear, Jess, it seemed as if I had to care for him everyday," Bo reminisced, "He always needed me to fix his cast. Finally, he admitted to me that he just wanted to talk to me and we hit it off." The two females had settled in a nearby seating area in the ship after Woody left to meet up with some of the military officials. Jessie agreed to have Bo teach her how to knit. And while Bo's scarf was knitted to perfection, Jessie had obviously proved that she never even considered knitting before. The two girls had plenty in common such as how they both went into the medical field when entering into college.

"So how's it like in…outer space?" Jessie asked. She cringed at how inane her question came out.

"Nervous?" Bo responded with a grin, glancing at the redhead's fragmented scarf. "You've been to battle before, it's similar to that. Don't worry about it. Besides, you're with Captain Lightyear. He is _the_ captain you want to be lead by when it comes to the extraterrestrial military expeditions." Jessie clenched her jaw as her green eyes stared at her hands.

"Bo? How wouldja describe Captain Lightyear?" Bo gave a feeble smirk.

"Is distant the word you're looking for?" Jessie gave a mere tilt of the head sheepishly. "Oh, Jess. I've been there, too. We've all been there. You see, he's not _our_ type, if you get what I mean. He grew up in a strict, militant environment. His father was one of the most well-respected army leaders there were in the day. He always pushed Edward to join the military life. At age nine, he sent him to military school. I'm sure just as any nine year old, he refused. Bt he didn't have a say. Before he could even have an established set of friends, he was transferred. It was a rigorous cycle, he never did get a long with anybody. He joined ranger school at eighteen years old, one of the toughest military schools there was, and graduated top of his class. He had major accomplishments in the army, such as being captain a year younger than the average age. I've grown closer to him over the years, but he's most comfortable with your brother." Bo looked out the window, her eyes sparkling. "I like to see people such a hard background smile like he does when he's with Woody. You're brother is an amazing person."

"Gee," Jessie sighed, setting her needles down, "I couldn't deal with a childhood like that. I grew up in a small town with a huge family."

"His father then turned against our government. He radicalized his views. Threatened the people and politicians and is to be considered one of the most wanted villain the Galactic Alliance today. Perhaps that's another reason why he isn't very close with people."

Jessie furrowed her eyebrows. "Who's his father?"

Bo's lips tightened. "You'll find out when you'll reach his palace to battle tomorrow."

Abruptly, the two females felt the ship reach a halt and a voice came over the intercom announcing that they had reached their destination. The broadcast has also noted that there would be a meeting in the main entry room of the space station. Looking out the windows, they watched the doors of the station slid close, signaling to the passengers that it was safe to proceed exiting the shuttle. After settling in her section that night and unpacking her suitcases, Jessie found Mira and Stretch racing towards her in excitement.

"C'mon!" Stretch persuaded, tugging at Jessie's sleeves, "There's going to be a party! Tonight!"

"Tonight?"

"Yes!" Mira exclaimed, "Almost like a welcome party or some sort. It's a tradition here in the space academy to have a welcome party when arriving at the station!"

Jessie looked over to her suitcase and over to the females again. "Y'all got entertainment?"

"What d'ya got in mind?" Stretch asked with a sly smirk. Jessie returned her look with an expression of shrewdness.

"Go on you two, I got somethin' in mind."

**Sorry that it's rushed. This chapter isn't too hot. Trust me, I tried. Anywho, thank you to my supporters and please review!**


	5. The Party

**Holy quick update, Batman! Well, quick for me anyway...**

Cheers and music had filled the room; a party was occurring and the troops were enthusiastically participating in the event. One of the guards who had brought in an initially broken light was fixed and show a blank portion of a wall from the opposite side of the room as the rest of the atmosphere dimmed down. The guests quieted themselves, turned their attention to the spotlight and walked over. Jessie Pride made her way into the illuminated region in front of the forming crowd with a suitcase and what seemed to be a piece of clothing.

"Howdy!" she exclaimed, "The name's Jessie if you don't already know me and I'm gonna perform in an short lil' entertainment act this evenin'." Applause rose as she took a generous bow. "First, I'll need a volunteer. Who wants to join me?"

Many hands flew up in the air along with some playful demands for her to choose an individual. She searched the room, looking for the man who she had in mind.

"Ah!" she breathed, extending out her arm, "Mister Edward Lightyear!" Her choice was accompanied with whistles along with a simultaneous push for him to go up. "C'mon, capt'n," she whispered, "For me?" He gave an exasperated sigh and clutched her hand.

"Jessica?" he questioned, giving her a skeptical look, "What are you going to have me-"

"Bein' a girl from Texas and knowin' my weapons, I have brought a little surprise for y'all." As she opened her case she carried, she exposed the blades that reflected the light, sending a fluorescent white beam to dazzle the audience. Buzz, who was still holding Jessie's hand, had tightening his grip in slight apprehension. "Edward," she announced, turning to him, "I would like you to wear this robe." She took the robe that hung over her arm and displayed it for the audience.

"Jessica," he started, raising his eyebrows as she slid his arms in the robe. A man whispled in the back, causing Buzz's annoyance to increase.

"Captain, I needja to stand against the wall with you arms extended out with your back and knuckles pressed against it. Feet should be far apart." He didn't know why he listened to her. Perhaps with was the adrenaline that he felt or the clapping, screaming audience that encouraged him, but he found himself following Jessie's exact orders.

"Like this?" he asked, gulping as he watched her bring out a knife to show the audience.

"Exactly, captain," she approved, "Now hold your breath." With her back facing the audience, she mouthed the words 'trust me' to her temporary assistant. He couldn't do anything so he kept his eyes shut until-

Fwipt…BANG!

He heard the soldiers gasp and immediately opened his eyes. Looking from the corner of his eye, he saw right by the right side of his neck there lay a blade, barely touch his flesh as it pinned down the material of the robe's collar to the wall.

"You OK, partner?" she yelled.

"Y-yeah, yeah," he stammered, breathing in and out in a controlled manner. "I think so."

"Good," she perked, grabbing another blade, "Then I hope you don't mind me doing another one!" This got a roaring laugh from the observers while Buzz grew nauseous. She released another knife, in the exact same place as the previous one, only on his left side. Buzz struggled to swallow as he switched his eyesight from his left to his right.

"Now that's nothin'!" Jessie screamed to the crowd. "D'ya wanna see _more_?" The reaction was an overwhelming approval. She flung two more, both at the material by the wrists.

"Pride," he panted, feeling the perspiration dripping from his forehead.

"One more!" she pronounced to the audience, holding up another prop for them to see. Mumbles broke out as they predicted where she would aim it at. In one fluid motion, she dropped to a squat and measured the length between her and squirming military official.

"What are you planning Jessica!" he bellowed, following her eyesight. Wordlessly as she bit her bottom lip, she retracted her arm back and shot it forward, letting go of the blade.

Stillness filled the air. A loud bang was executed as the blood from Buzz's face drained. After a heartbeat of silence, the staff broke out into ovation and joyous approval. Buzz extended his neck to peer down with the knives by his neck digging in. All he saw was a handle protruding from between his thighs. His eyesight traced to the grinning cowgirl, giving him a casual salute.

"Talk about almost say goodbye to the one you love!" she jeered with the audience, sending them into an eruption of hearty guffaws. "Thank you everybody! And give a hand for my human voodoo doll!" As the crowd finished clapping, the lights returned to their previous state as the music was turned up. She watched everybody break into their groups again and twisted her body to look at the pinned down space ranger.

"I-I must say you have a w-way with, uh, your sharp objects," Buzz admitted as he surveyed Jessie pulling the knives by his wrists.

"Takes practice," she responded with a sly smile. "I can teach you someday if you want. Never know when it'll come in handy." She grasped the two knives from the collar by the handle and rested her forearms on his chest, leaning in a little closer. "And thank you again. I could've never have done this without ya."

"N-no, problem," he stuttered, feeling her tugging on the knives. She gazed into his eyes as she let out an inward giggle. Buzz was trapped looking back into her green orbs. Finally, the two knives let themselves free from the wall.

"I'll letcha take care of the fifth knife for me," she murmured, tilting her head downward.

"O-oh," he gasped, hoping that his face wasn't too red, "Right. I'm on it."

"I'll be out there," Jessie pointed to the rest of the recruiters, "You can just put them in my suitcase here. And Edward?" His head jolted upward. "Come join us. You need to relax."

He studied her for a moment. "I'll think about it," he informed, his voice turning back it its usual cool tone.

* * *

><p>The colleagues danced and swayed their bodies to the live, touring orchestra that preformed for the local military stations. They around about two and half hours ago and help encouraged the soldiers to benefit from the resonances of the instruments. After an hour and forty-five minutes of swing, the associates finally grew weary and requested slower music. As the cowgirl watched the couples pair up to slow dance, including her brother and a certain nurse that he was head over heels for, Jessie searched the room for Buzz. He wasn't in sight.<p>

_And he promised me he'd be with us,_ she thought to herself as she wrapped her arms around her torso. She'll find him, she decided, and ask him to join her in one last dance. She had a feeling that the orchestra's shift was almost finished and it would be a waste for him to miss out.

Stroking her fingertips against the walls, she felt the coolness touch her skin as the melody of the band disintegrated into echoes. The darkness crept up and draped her body while stifling her breaths. She abhorred the dark ever as far as her memories could carry her. Her heart hammered in her chest and she found herself straining her vision in hopes to find some sort of light. Suddenly, she heard a deep tone of a whizzing noise along with a small explosion. And again. Jessie let these foreign sounds lead her to an opening near at the end of the hallway she was toddling through. Grasping the edge of the doorframe, she entered in what appeared to be a deeply-rooted warehouse room. Her eyes investigated the area until she saw a silhouette jarring back as beams of light soar from its body. Witnessing the cerulean ray diminished as it reached contact at the wall ahead of it, the figure fussed with the contraption in his hand and aimed it at the wall again.

"Captain?" she called out. The outline turned to face her and his face was shown by the lights that hovered above him. "Captain, you're missin' out on the party! The orchestra came in about two hours ago and they sound amazin'!"

He shot another beam. Jessie rubbed her hands together anxiously.

"I reckon you don't have a likin' to dancin'?" she joked.

"Never thought of trying," Buzz admitted, setting his gun down. The spaceman looked at the redhead who was twisting her body to look at the place. "It's a shooting ground," he clarified, "I just decided to…take time for myself to practice my shooting range. Since we're going into Zurg's empire… and all." He cleared his throat and readjust his body again to face the target ahead of him. Then, he tilted his head slightly in Jessie direction while dropping his arms again.

"What?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I heard from your brother that you're a better shooter than him," he brought up with a hint of mischievousness in his eyes. "He's our best shooter in the squad."

"Well, I think I'm _better_," she retorted lightheartedly, grasping the handle of the gun. Positioning herself to duplicate the previous stance Buzz arranged himself to be in to fire the laser gun, she steadied herself and lined the nozzle to the center mark of the targets. Tightening her finger to initiate the trigger, she felt the beam spurt out from the weapon. The force proved itself to be too strong and sent the cowgirl to collide her backside into the ground with a thud. Rubbing her behind, she groaned and peered at the space captain who stood over her who was smothering his chuckles.

"I take it you never fired a laser gun before?" Buzz questioned, extending out his hand. As Jessie intertwined her fingers with his, Buzz placed the gun back in her free palm.

"That's never happened to me before!" she gasped, clutching her grip onto the handle of the pistol once more, "That's one mighty gun!" Wordlessly, Buzz grabbed her wrists from behind as his chest hovered over her back to manage examining the shooting range over her shoulder. Jessie felt his warm, calculated breaths on her neck and a mumbled approval.

"OK," he stated, tweaking her arms downwards slightly till the nozzle pointed at the south end of the first white ring of the target, off center from the bullseye. "Now because this is your first time shooting a laser gun, it's always good to go below the target like this. Laser guns tend to shoot upward because the energy it is releasing causes a certain amount of force that tends to create a path of gamma rays that rises ever so slightly. That's the reason why you fell backward. This isn't a small mass being shot out like a bullet that you're use to. A ray in this weapon is approximately three times the length."

"Is my stance good?" she probed, closing one eye to measure up the distance. Buzz took his right foot and tapped both the sole of her feet with his toes, suggesting that she should stand at a shoulder-length's posture. His hands gripped her tense shoulders and gradually lowered them. Seeing that her arms getting limp, he moved his hands down to her elbows and squeezed them.

"Make sure that every part of your body is relaxed but _strong_," he advised, his voice sending shivers throughout her spine. She couldn't quite figure out why, but his voice hummed a familiar manner, as if she had encountered his presence before. Her eyes traced down to his hands. They shown a history of struggle and scars of endurance. His clasp was firm and yet protective. Her forearms were diminutive in contrast to his burly limbs. The heat of his palms soon vanished as he stepped back; her flesh was vulnerable to the cool environment.

"Now?" she inquired.

"Whenever you're ready," he approved. Provoking the trigger, Jessie felt herself jolt back again as she watched beam fly ahead of her. Expecting to land on the ground for the second time, she felt Buzz's arms fall through her the sides of her torso as she collapsed into him.

"Dammit," she muffled. Buzz dropped his right arm and reached across to Jessie's left wrist. In one fluid motion, he raised her as she span under his arm and felt herself being pulled in towards him before she lost control of her legs. She released a minute yelp as her body swung with the captain's.

"Look," he commanded, his back facing the wall. The cowgirl glimpsed over his shoulder and saw the cavity she generated in the marked board.

"I did that?" she asked with a gleeful smile, staring at the burned red centered dot.

"Mmm-hmm. Not bad for your second try," Buzz responded, switching their positions for him to look at the shot again, "You can work on your balancing later."

"I thought you said you couldn't dance," Jessie sneered, pulling back from the space ranger.

"I said I never _tried_," he corrected, swaying with the redhead. He soon halted, his grin dropping to his usual solemn expression as he cleared his throat.

"What's the matter?" she asked, glazing into his cobalt eyes as she watched him take a step back.

"I'm, uh, I-I think I'm holding you back," he stammered, wiping his gun from the end of his shirt. "From the party." His eye contact dropped to the revolver as silence began to emerge.

"You can join me," she suggested quietly. He shook his head once.

"Have a good time. I…I need to work on some things before…" He rubbed his abdomen and glared to the dimmest corner of the room.

"Oh. OK," she started to speak after waiting for him to finish his statement. They looked at each other again and gave a feeble smile on both of their faces before glancing at the floor.

"By the way, that was some show you put on, Jessica. At the pre-party, if you must say."

"Thank you. I learned how to throw blades at the age of fourteen. It's a good skill to learn. I can teach ya someday if ya want." Buzz's head perked up.

"Yeah, yeah. Someday." Jessie emitted one last giggle before her footsteps sounded out the doorway, leaving behind resonances as reminders for Buzz to remember what happened in the warehouse room that night.

**Hmm, I think I'm the only girl who thinks that throwing knives at your potential boyfriend and they falling while shooting a laser gun is romantic. Honestly though, before I even thought of this story, these scenes would NOT get out of my head. Anywho, please review because reviews make me happy and a happy dmwcool1 means a more enthusiatic dmwcool1. I appriciate the favoriting and alerts, believe me I'm honored, but I would like to hear feedback as, well good or bad :-)**


	6. The Stab

**Hello my fellow readers. I hope you are having a wonderful summer vacation :-) So there is some violence in this chapter but nothing too gorry or anything (in my opinion). The italic text is suppose to be a future event and the regular text is a flashback. I just wanted to make that clear, 'cause I'm not too sure if I successfully conveyed that idea or not :-/ **

_Grabbing his wound in anticipation of viewing the approaching space station, Edward soon collapsed several feet away from the guards by the door. Their solemn demeanor broke down as they detected the injured military leader . Only his shadowy form could be seen and his badge reflecting the moonlight, flashing glimmers of the metal that had been pinned to his chest pocket. The azure of his eyes deciphered pain that baited the securities to attend to his helplessness. One of the men carefully removed his gripping hand. At first, Buzz refused to budge his arm as an involuntary reaction. After persuading him to have him reveal his gash, the guard observed the taint color of the murky green of the officer's army coat clashing with the scarlet hue of the blood seeping out. As the guards exchanged glances in concern, the left man spoke into his communication device while the other guard assisted Buzz to his feet. _

_Dolly watched the approaching silhouettes towards the doorframe. The darkness shed away from the aching visage of Buzz's as the three males stepped over the threshold. The guards saluted her and she ran over to him._

"_Captain!" she exclaimed, holding his shoulders, "What happened? We've got to get you to the nurses." She turned to the motionless guards. "As you were gentlemen." Hearing the clicks of their heels against the tile floor, Dolly wrapped one of Buzz arms around her should and hoisted him to an erect stance. "What happened, Edward? You asked to be left alone in the meeting cabin after our session and you returned stabbed!"_

"_I-I…" Buzz trailed off, dragging his feet to keep up with her pace. The concerned corporal furrowed her eyebrows in struggle to make eye contact with the slumping spaceman. "I-I…s-s-saw…"_

"_No no no," she quickly murmured, "Lightyear, stay with me."_

"_I-I-I s-s-s-saw…__him__."_

"_It's OK, you don't need to speak," Dolly assured, noticing two women in clad white garments, "Thank you ladies!" As one of the young woman stepped aside to reveal the secrete gurney, the three woman placed Buzz directly onto its surface and pulled the sheet over to conceal his body. Dolly reached for his hand from underneath the blanket and brought it to his cheek._

"_Get better, OK?" she requested with a grin, "I'll see you in the morning. Rest well." While turning the opposite direct to go back to her room, she felt his grasp grow taut. She turned to face him again, her fingers wrapping around his hand again._

"_W-we…we…__can't__ s-stop n-now…" he breathed, his words growing more labored. "I-I s-saw h-him. I-I…." His voice became increasingly meek as sympathetic feeling grew within Dolly._

"_Explain what happened to me when you get better. Don't stress yourself out." She looked to the perplexed females, her eyes reflecting her permission to roll him to the nurses' station as their fingers brushed away from each other. She placed her hand over her mouth in worriment and curiosity of what had happened just a few hours earlier._

* * *

><p>Buzz flinched at the sound of the space jets flying over his cabin. He had forgotten how boisterous the experience of intergalactic battle had been. Resting his coffee cup onto the desk in front of him, he placed his elbows and rubbed his exhausted face as he quietly groaned into his palms. Even after the morning's army meeting, the official still couldn't decide on the next move to execute in the current battle they had entered. Hearing a soft knock at the door, Buzz called out to open the door. Straightening his posture, he breathed a sigh of relief when he soon made eye contact with a set of recognizable brown eyes. As his friend let himself in and sat in the chair across from the captain, he set down a beige folder that caught Buzz's interest.<p>

"This is all we could find in the records," Woody pointed out to Buzz, watching his comrade slump in disappointment as he looked through the papers in from of him.

"This can't be it," Buzz mumbled to himself, slapping down the photographs, "Not one of these pictures of him are less than twenty years old. How are we suppose to locate him without his mask?" He watched Woody open his mouth and quickly closing it, restraining his answer. Buzz read his thoughts through the strange mixture of concern and impatience in his associate's expression. Swallowing hard, the space ranger tapped a rhythm less pattern on the surface of the desk. "I haven't seen him since I was fifteen years old. And that was only for a short amount of time. The time before that was when I was at age nine. I wouldn't know what he looked like today." Woody leaned back in his chair and glanced at the ceiling, exhaling slowly.

"I'm telling you, Buzz," he spoke, "We can't go on like this. This has been going on for five days now. I understand that Zurg had fired at us and threatened the alliance recently. But this was just originally planned to be only a blockade of his empire. This is spinning out of control."

"They fired the first shot," Buzz defended, slightly cringing at how inane his statement sounded. He knew that the cowboy's reasoning was logical. Never had he felt such embarrassment before; his confrontation to have Zurg surrender in result from years of increasing tensions had grew into the problematic situation he faced in the present. The worst part was Zurg's military didn't seem to exhibit any signs of quitting.

"So, what do you think you're gonna do?" Buzz emitted a small laugh. It seemed as if Woody was questioning him on what movie to see the next night or what he has in mind for a nice sized supper. But knowing Woody, he had grown familiar to his relaxed demeanor.

"I'll tell you again what I told all of you in this morning's meeting: I was come up with a solution by tomorrow at dusk." The folder was pushed towards Woody who was examining his colleague.

"Fair 'nough, partner," he finally agreed, clutching the folder. As Woody rose out of his seat to turn towards the door, he faced Buzz once more. "Are you sure you don't need my help with anything?"

Buzz glimpsed at the window, looking at the distant the space station and back to the tall figure ahead of him. "I'll call you when I need you. Thank you, Sarge."

* * *

><p>Feeling his eyelashes brushing against a foreign object, Buzz straightened his body, he lifted his forehead from his crossed arms and saw that his papers with his handwriting were in the same place before he dozed off; resting underneath his forearms. Licking his lips and squeezing his eyes shut to revive them, his eyesight trace to the closest window. Last time he glanced out the window, the atmosphere seemed to welcome him and guarantee all obstacles would soon be minimized. However, the dimness of the night sky seemed to have an arrogant and aloof conduct. Reaching for the desk clock, the bright numbers flashed that it was 8:43 PM. Figuring that be isolated in the meeting cabin away from the recruiters wouldn't help him decide what actions to take next for the continuing battle, he settled to return to the battle station. Perhaps the solution will come to him in his sleep the second time around.<p>

Suddenly he heard a knock at the door and he tilted his head to the side in bafflement.

_Odd, wouldn't have the guards let him in?_ he wondered as he settled himself back in his seat.

"Come in," he called out, organizing the papers he slept on. The door opened slightly ajar until it swung out in zeal, revealing a dark figure whose outline was illuminated by the moon's shine. Squinting his eyes, Buzz recognized his uniform as his own and just like the other members of the Galactic Alliance, but he had yet to remember his face. The stranger walked in slowly with a sly grin, his eyes tracing the small interior.

"It seems very comfortable in here," his rumbling voice assumed. Turning to the seat in from of him, he held out his palm. "May I sit?"

"Yes," the bewildered captain answered. His face was profoundly memorable to Buzz but he couldn't think of a specific scenario or situation where could've seen such a man. His eyes scanned the foreigner's scar that met up with his ever-present smile. Buzz could tell that his age must have been well into the forties, maybe even early fifties, but there was a certain youth to him. The outsider gently cocked his head and he intertwined his fingers together, still smirking. Buzz noticed that his shape was in excellent condition by how snug his material on his outfit was on his torso. The man ran his hand through his golden hair as his russet orbs peered at the pondering space ranger.

"I-I'm sorry for staring at you like this," Buzz stammered after several moments of inspection, "I see you work for us by your attire but I've never seen you around here before."

"You've seen me before," the elder man retorted, lowering his chin.

Buzz nervously cleared his throat. His glare intimidated Buzz with its intensity. "Allow me to introduce myself," he began, extending his hand, "I am Captain Lightyear." The man followed suit, his cold palm sending shudders throughout Buzz's body.

"Ditto."

Buzz's shoulder's slumped as his mouth dropped slightly. As Buzz pulled his hand back, he stood up abruptly, his chair slamming against the wall behind him.

"How did you get here?" he demanded, walking over the man. "How did you get past the security?"

"You mean the two men that we standing in front of the door over there?" he sardonically answered, "Oh that was a synch. Don't worry about them, they'll wake up sooner or later." Peering over his shoulder through the door, Buzz saw the two men collapsed on the ground on top of each other outside.

"Where did you get the uniform?" Buzz hissed. "Who else have you harmed?" The man gave a deep chuckle.

"Relax, Edward, I use to fight for this side. Remember?" Anger grew within Buzz as he clenched his fists. "I'm surprised you didn't identify me without my mask on. Although it _has_ been a decade or so…"

"Zurg," Buzz announced as his body stiffened. Stillness filled the little space between them.

"Edward," Zurg responded, gently placing a hand on the space ranger's shoulder, "don't pretend you don't know who I am." Buzz instantly slapped his hand away.

"I _don't_ know who you are," Buzz stated, walking towards the furthest corner to break contact, "In fact, I never did."

"Edward, I am your father." The space ranger's eye twitched.

"Don't abuse the word in such a way," Buzz fired back, "'Father'. Fathers don't abandon and neglect their children to focus on their own needs. Fathers don't send their adolescent boys to boot and military camp prematurely without their consent. Father's don't try to overturn and abolish the very government that their son protects and works for. Fathers do _not_ cause the grief to their sons like you have caused me." Quietly, Zurg sauntered over to his son, nose to nose, revealing a sleep deprived face accompanied by dark bags that hugged the bottom of his eyes along with wrinkles that lined his forehead. At first, Buzz was taken aback by his father's unusual vulnerable approach, but his face returned to its primary stern expression.

"Buzz listen to me-" Zurg was cut off by a nozzle hovering over his nose.

"No, _you _listen to _me_. You are going to step down from your position as a dictator of a corrupted empire." Zurg's eyebrows turned upward as his dark eyes glistened.

"I see me in you. More that you know, Edward, more than you know. And whether you like it or not, I have helped you achieve your status today." His son's left eye convulsed in anxiety as his finger wrapped around the trigger tighter. "Don't you see," his calm voice explained, "You are ready to shoot anybody. Any person is a victim at the point of the gun. I may have sent you to military school, but you chose not to rebel against its system. Look at you, look at your profession." Zurg watched the gun gradually lower to reveal his offspring's face.

"What are you trying to get at?"

"I'm not trying to get at anything, son. I know how you run your regimen. You are a fantastic leader. You can lead like your old man here."

"But I use my leadership for good causes."

"You do?" Zurg questioned with a half-hearted sarcastic tone, "I am not denying you are a leader. A good one at that. But have you truly considered that government you are working for? What about the scandals over the years, the inconsistency of power and finances? I am trying to help the people with my empire."

"No your not. You are trying to oppress us," Buzz objected, looking down to his gun. He threw it across the room, both men watched the weapon slide across the floor after it landed with a clank. "I wish to not be a threat to you, father."

"Son, I have missed the best years of your life. I didn't get to see you grow up. I never acknowledged your opinions or cared for you whenever you were troubled. I'm sorry." Zurg stepped closer. "I truly am." Shocked, Buzz stumbled over his words. He had never seen his father show _any _kind of emotion to him other than his standard stoic nature.

"D-do you r-r-really mean that?" Buzz asked, not doubting a single word his father told him. "Everything you just said?"

"Yes," he responded, once again resting his hand on his shoulder. "You are a great leader. Your power can reach great lengths one day."

Abruptly, Zurg lunged forward to Buzz, taking the son by surprise. Buzz felt a tingling sensation in his fingers. All sounds of the wilderness outside, the wind blowing through the windows, and his own thoughts turned into echoes. The sensation of pain stifled him. As he pulled away from Zurg, he gave a distressed shout as he wrapped his arms around his torso. His eyes traced for his own arms to his father's hand. In it he held a blade that trickled scarlet blood. Anxiously, Buzz removed his arms to expose a bloody injury cut into his abdomen. Plummeting into the floor, Zurg placed his knife back in his own trench coat.

"Your powers _can _reach great lengths, Edward," Zurg continued, observing the dancing leaves on the trees outside in the window to avoid eye contact with his suffering offspring, "I can't risk that. I'm incredibly sorry. I…I love you, Buzz."

"Wait, wait!" Buzz coughed, rearranging his body in fetal position. He raised his hand, extending each finger to their tips. "Are you really going to leave me like this?" Wordlessly, Zurg strolled to the opposite side of the room, ignoring Buzz's pleads. Zurg reached for the communication device in his pocket as he watched Buzz shudder in agony.

"Ready," his voice cracked, kneeling to him. He rubbed his hand warily through Buzz's mud-colored blonde hair. "Survival of the fittest. First rule of politics." A green beam of light surrounded the emperor as Buzz watched him dissolve.

"Don't…go," Buzz uttered, watching the leader's departure. Buzz's wavering hand reached for the door knob that hovered over his head. He blinked relentlessly to diminish the black fadedness of his unconsciousness. After many attempts, he finally got to his knees and swung the door open. He had no choice as he felt the breeze brush his face.

**So this story is kinda based on the true event of Osama Bin Laden's death (PLEASE no political debates in the review section) Many people expected him to be in some remote island or country that they never even heard of (including me) and yet they caught him in Washington DC, the last place I thought he'd be. So I thought 'what would it be like if Buzz was facing his own enemy and didn't even know it at first'. And then viola!**

**Yeah, yeah silly idea. But you try things as a writer ;-)**

**And I imagined Zurg without his mask to look like a combination between Johnny Depp with his bone struction and Robert Downey Jr. with the emotive eyes topped all of with Jack Nicohlson's smile. Hey Buzz had to get his good looks somehow right? That and plus those three men are very charismatic in my opinion and I wanted Zurg to have those traits. I mean, think about, have you ever seen a non-charming, powerful leader? And yes, I know, I tend to write my villains very campy ;-P Anywho, sorry for the rambling!**


	7. The Kiss

"Good morning mister Lightyear!" a young voice chirped during Buzz's sleep. The brightness of the white blinded him for several seconds until the ceiling above him emerged in his eyesight. With his heart pounding against his ribcage, he apprehensively searched the room and spotted a female by the wooden door across the room. Pinching the coarse material of the hospital gown he wore, he swept his fingertips around the area of his wound. "I hope you had a good night's rest," she greeted, walking over to him, "Last night you lost consciousness due to your large amount of blood loss from rushing over to the space station. Luckily, the nurses who took you in were able to stop the bleeding and managed to sew in nine stitches."

Mumbling to himself, his eyes flickered around the pale atmosphere and brought his attention back to the nurse. The orderly alerted him that some of the members of the military officials had been waiting in the lobby for him to wake up. He gave her permission to let them enter and watched her swiftly walk out of the room later to reveal his colleagues. As they awkwardly bundled at the doorway, Buzz rose his hand to let them draw closer to his bed.

"Come in," he requested, smoothing put the sheets in front of him, "Due to the events last night, I have made some very important decisions that will need to be announced to the soldiers by this afternoon."

* * *

><p>"An enemy has been at our station without our knowledge. Zurg's force has underhandedly intervened in our battle station, thus increasing their threat to our army." The soldiers in the auditorium fidgeted in their chairs as they watched General Porkham pace across the space in front of them. "Captain Lightyear was stabbed last night due to a member from the empire being on these grounds," he continued, taking a moment to pause. "The officials and I have spoken with him this morning in his hospital bed. We have decided to call off any future battles. However, he pushed for a guerilla attack directly at Zurg's empire, targeting Zurg himself in the hopes of finally capturing him. Only a small group of chosen soldiers with head with him to the empire as soon as he heals to get Zurg while the remaining recruiters with stay here on guard. His decisions on who will be the guerilla fighters will be made by the end of this week, approximately around the time estimated time where he will be in full recovery. You are dismissed."<p>

Porkham suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder after several moments of observing the departing militia. He turned to see Woody raising his eyebrow.

"I didn't hear you mention that Zurg himself had been in our territory last night," Woody mumbled to the portly man, "I would think that's a vital piece of information that our soldiers should know." The general gave him a disappointed expression.

"I didn't want to ignite fear in them," he defended, rubbing his hands together as he peer around the room, "Besides, I think Edward was just a little lightheaded. Seeing Zurg? Here? I think the guards would have caught him with his gear and costume on."

"Well, he _did_ say that he didn't have his mask on. Perhaps the guards had mistaken him as one of us?" Porkham blew a slow breath out of his mouth.

"Woody, lets be real here. We haven't seen the man without his mask throughout his whole political career. The most recent photos of him were taken twenty years ago. No matter how many times Lightyear has swore the man looked like the same man in the photos, twenty years is a lengthy time period. The man in those photos were taken in his twenties. Zurg is in his forties now, and a person's looks changed drastically between their twenties and forties." _But he would know seeing his own father_ Woody wished he could say, holding his tongue.

"But they can still be recognizable," Woody fought back, rising to the balls of his feet. "We should take his words into consideration. I trust him when he says that he looked Zurg in the face, unmasked and exposed. I don't think we should ignore his accusations like we are."

* * *

><p>"I heard that he had to run all the way from his cabin to the battle station," Barbie sighed as she swung her legs while readjusted her body on the bench to a more comfortable position. Stretch mentally counted the amount of taps of Mira's jump rope swiping the dirt as she clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.<p>

"Yeah. Shame really. But it's at our expense," she quipped, "He _still _won't let the Zurg thing go. Now we gotta be worried about being _chosen_ for engaging in the guerilla attacks. As much as I love the thought of hiding in places to jump out and shoot at the enemy, frankly I think we're fighting a lost cause." The three women heard a shot being ignited, followed by a loud thump. Listening to Jessie's groans, they faced the cowgirl who was now on the ground, waving dust away from her face. "Didja get it?" Stretch asked sardonically.

"Dammit. I did it again," Jessie mumbled, watching XR approach her.

"Good afternoon ladies!" he announced, reaching his hand towards Jessie. "Here, let me help you." As the redhead rose to her feet, she squatted down to pick up her laser gun and repositioned herself. "I see an improvement, Ms. Pride."

"I wish I saw the same," she muttered, measuring the distance between her and the target ahead.

"Hey, XR," Mira called out, gathering her jump rope, "Did you guys ever catch the guy from Zurg's empire?"

"No," XR answered, "Nobody saw him enter or leave our station. The word on street is Lightyear is claiming that it was Zurg himself." As the females talked amongst themselves, Jessie put her gun down to face the robot.

"What d'ya mean?" she questioned.

"Well, just as it sounds," XR responded, "The only two witnesses, the guards in front of his cabin, were knocked out so they have no memory of what the man looked like. Captain Lightyear, however, swears that it was Zurg, unmasked and without his armor, who wounded him. The staff thinks that he delirious from the loss of blood and and lack of rest he had this morning, though, when he claimed that." Jessie looked over her shoulder behind her, spotting the nurses' station in the distance and faced XR again.

"I see," she said absently, setting her gun on the bench by her acquaintances, "Will ya excuse me, partner? I think I need to make a visit."

* * *

><p>Watching a male nurse walk through the entrance while sipping his coffee, Jessie lightly jogged to the closing door and slipped herself inside. Not sure of what to expect, the lobby area seemed much like what a hospital would look like on Earth for civilians. It appeared to be a slow day for the woman at the front desk was mindlessly shuffling papers and glancing at the clock in hopes of her lunch break to approach. Jessie quickly strolled up to the desk and rest her arms on the cool, teal counter as she waited for the woman to look up. The secretary glanced at Jessie, her face expressionless and immediately brought life to her eyes with a smile and asked if she could be of an assistance. Shortly after Jessie answered her question, the nurse told her the room number and pointed her to the right direction. After thanking her, Jessie sauntered over to the hallways, staring at her shoes that contracted with the pale, cream tiles underneath her. Arguing with herself as she met up with the open doorframe, she debated with herself whether this had been a smart idea or not. Walking in, she saw a slumbering figure in the bed.<p>

_Oh he's asleep._ she thought, nervously looking around the room, _This is silly. I shouldn't bother him when he's at rest. I don't want to wake-_

Abruptly, she turned for the door after watching him squirm in his covers but halted after hearing her name.

"Ms. Pride?" his voice croaked while rubbing his eyes.

"H-howdy," she spat out in alarm, turning rapidly to look at him. "I, uh, just wanted to see how you were doin', Captain Lightyear." To her relief, a warm grin crossed him face as he rested his arm on his forehead. She walked closer to him until his bed rail by his feet touched her thighs. "So, how are you?"

"I've been in better situations," he replied, "Of course, I've been in worse as well. I've been watching you." He smile decreased slightly as he eyes grew slightly wider. "I-I mean, watching you from the window. Gun practice. I see you in the window practicing shooting. With your laser gun." She gave a small giggle.

"And I'm still fallin' on my butt," she added. "I wish I coulda brought ya somethin'. It didn't even occur to me till now."

"That's alright. It was very kind of you to stop by in the first place." A long silence between them happened with the sound of phones and laughter in the background.

"Well, I better get goin'," she announced, "I just wanted to check up on ya since I haven't seen ya since the party." Buzz apprehensively cleared his throat.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, watching her leave. "S-see you tomorrow?" She stopped in her steps and caught a glimpse of him, a smirk growing on her face.

"Sure thing," she agreed, "See you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Bo snuggled under Woody's arm as she face the glass door, cupping hands around her mug. Looking up for his approval, he brought down his lips and gave her a small peck on her forehead. They surveyed the moonlit figures silently. Woody then felt a nudge at his side and peer over to Bo's mischievous expression on her face.<p>

"Jessie has been visiting him for these past few days now, Woody," Bo began before taking a sip of her coffee, "I think there might be something there." Woody rolled his eyes disbelief.

"Highly doubt it, Bo," he returned, tapping his fingers on her shoulders, "I know Jessie. She's always wanting to help those who are hurt. She's always been like that ever since she was a little girl, especially when it comes to animals." Bo emitted a tiny, sarcastic 'mmm-hmm' while her blue orbs met up with Woody's.

""Well, all I'm saying is-"

"C'mon Bo!" an older woman called out, "Get back to work!"

"I'm on a _break_, Betty!" Bo yelled back, watching her co-worker grunt disapprovingly. "Anyways," she continued, averting her attention back to Woody, "all I'm saying is she's really helped him through the healing process." She watch as a proud smile spread across his face for his sister. Resting her head on his chest, she felt Woody's arms wrap around her tighter. "They're getting there."

* * *

><p>"And I remember sittin' at the table and Mama was makin' us say grace," Jessie spoke, kicking the pebble in the grass as the cool breeze stroked her cheeks, "I was only a little girl, so I didn't know any better, but while my grandma was prayin', I was eatin' the food. By time everybody opened their eyes, a good portion of the food was gone." Buzz chuckled with her and suddenly turned serious.<p>

"You're lucky to have had such a large family." Jessie grew solemn as she looked over to Buzz. It was the first time she noticed the night sky's color change compared to its oranges tones it had when they initially met earlier in the evening. She didn't realize how quickly the hours passed.

"It's not as hot as it sounds. I mean, first I had to share a room with Woody. We weren't as close as we were now so you could imagine how I felt about that. And my parents always dragged me to kiddy clubs and girl scouts and other activities that I never really wanted to do. And my grandparents were old, so I found them icky when I was little. I also lived in a small town, so gossip flew around pretty darn fast. At times, I felt claustrophobic and just need to _breathe_. I loved my family and neighbors, but I _loved_ the outdoors. The feel of grass and…the scent of fresh air. And when I got Bullseye-"

"Bullseye?" he interrupted, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah, my horse. I got him when I was thirteen. I made a bet with my dad that I could shoot his gun five times and have all the bullets hit the center of his target. I didn't have a lot of practice, so imagine my surprise when I actually did it. Then, the next day after work, he brought me home a calf. I named him Bullseye."

"Sounds like you were close to you father," Buzz noted, crossing his arms. Giving him a meek smile, she rubbed her hand on his shoulder in a consoling manner.

"What about you? Weren't you close with your father?" Buzz glanced over to the cowgirl and took a deep sigh.

"It's not a thing I open up to many people about," he began, shuffling his steps, "I guessing that you might of heard this from Woody or one another that Zurg is my father?" Jessie slapped her hands against her thighs as she sucked in her cheeks.

"I-I might've heard something like that." Luckily, Buzz gave an understanding look.

"I don't remember my father being in my life too much. I see mental images here and there, but not full memories. I was only nine when he sent me to military school and had jumped from school to school throughout my adolescent life. When I was sixteen, I had found out from my mother that he had been sent to prison for assault and battery of officials at the time. She swore to me that he never wanted to do such a thing, he was only trying to lead a revolt by having him and his supporters march at the capital. The police had warned him that he was too close to the president and that they needed to back up but he wouldn't listen. Both sides opened arms, and till this day nobody knows who pulled out their weapons first. Well, the court saw my father as a radical, a violent one at that. So, they sent him to prison, but his empire already began to grow. When he got out, he claimed his title as emperor." Buzz turned to the redhead. "You know the rest afterwards due to the news media. I was angry at him at the time. I didn't want to believe my mother's pleads over the phone that he was innocent and didn't mean no harm. I let my personal feelings get in the way and still do, so I pledged to myself and this country to capture him." Stillness grew between them as they listened to the crickets' noise surrounding them. "I was, and still am, ashamed of him being my father. And I try to keep that information bundled inside of me so that the littlest amount of people know."

"I'm sorry, Captain Lightyear," Jessie finally admitted. "None of this should've happened to you."

"Everybody says that," Buzz murmured angrily to himself.

"Looked at me, Edward," Jessie gently commanded, holding his face to look into her emerald orbs, "You can always go to me if you need anything." Buzz was quiet and softly caressed her cheek. Her skin was illuminated by the night sky as her eyes sparkled the reflection on the stars. The two space rangers lured close together and pressed their lip against one another. Slowly pulling back, Buzz dropped his hands as he erected his stance.

"I-I, uh, apologize for such unprofessional behavior, Jessica" he stammered, viewing the smug look on her face. "I better, uh, get going. The nurses are probably wondering where I am right now."

"You know, you could call me Jessie," she pointed out, shoving her hands in her pockets. "I wouldn't mind."

"Alright," Buzz settled, looking at the ground, "And c-call me Buzz."

"Buzz?"

"W-well, it's shorter than Captain Lightyear, that's for sure, and-"

"Sweet dreams, Buzz." He caught eye contract with her again, gave a sheepish wave, and headed off to the nurses' station. After several moments of Jessie watching two dragonflies soaring in front of her, she took a deep breath of satisfaction and laughed in spite of herself. Suddenly, a cloth came over her face and felt something bounding her arms to her body as she struggled to escape. Feeling her body being lifted off the ground, her legs swung desperately as fought back the sack over herself. Ignoring her pleads, the man who held her tossed her into the back of a van and slammed the doors closed. Shutting her eyes to relief the pain she experienced after landing on her side, she heard unidentifiable voices which caused her body to freeze in fear.

"Did you get her?" a deep voice grumbled. As the bag was pulled off, she squinted from the brightness of the interior truck lights. After moments of focusing, she found the face of Zurg's mask staring at her followed by a man's body kneeling to her level. Gasping in shock, she jerked back as she surveyed the mask slightly tilting in examination.

"Don't be scared, doll face," he told her, "We're not going to hurt you. In fact, you're going to be pretty important to us. You're going to be the bait, and we need you to look your _best_."

**Just pretend that this planet that they are on has the same characteristics as earth (oxygen, sunrise/fall, etc.) Otherwise, it would have been awkward for them to kiss with astronaut helmets. Sorry that's its a little rushed, and thank you to those who favored, alerted, and reviewed this story! Please leave a review!**


	8. The Shot

**I'm feelin' good today! Here's an update for my lovely readers!**

"Alright everybody! Wake up!" XR yelled as he rolled down the aisle ways of the beds. Peering down to his chest, he pressed a button that emitted the tune of a horn as he banged against his metal body to create noise. "Wake-y wake-y ladies!" As the robot tapped the shoulders of the slumbering girls, Woody followed him as he inspected the room. "Such beautiful ladies in the morning!" XR chirped as he received dirty looks from the rising recruiters.

"Johnson's here, Smith's here…" Woody mumbled to himself as he check his attendance clipboard.

"Hello Woody sir!" Barbie perked up, saluting the sergeant as she hopped from the bed.

"Good morning Barbie," he greeted, observing the area ahead of him. "Everybody seems to be here…" His eyes traced to the vacant bed in the corner. Recognizing it belonged to his sister, he rose an eyebrow. "Any of you know where Jessie went?"

"Probably to wash up?" Barbie suggested, combing her hair. Woody placed the tip of his eraser on his lips in consideration. _It's not like her to get up so early in the morning_, he thought. Brushing his hand against the top of XR's head, he informed him that he was going to pay Buzz a visit at his office.

* * *

><p>Her eyes following the passing figures in front of her, Jessie shifted in her seat to find a comfortable position. It was a small, dark room she resided in with a monitor room next door. Leaning her head back against the wall, she shook her legs impatiently. She had lost track of the time ages ago, it seemed, and her sense of fear had vanished hours back replaced with boredom. As the henchmen left the room, Zurg had pulled out a seat of his own and slipped into the chair. After moments of silence, Zurg turned to the grimacing hostage.<p>

"Do you need anything?" he asked, taking off his mask. "Coffee? Or…?"

"So that's what you look like underneath there," she noted, crossing her arms. "I see a resemblance." The emperor opened his mouth slightly and quickly shut it, raising his eyebrow in suspicion. Knitting her eyebrows, Jessie pressed her lips together. "What kind of father stabs their son?" Zurg stared at her in complete stillness until he gave a long sigh. Leisurely getting up from his chair, he spoke under his breath about his age dismissively as he sauntered over to the redhead. On his trip over to her, grabbed a chair nearest to him and pulled it towards her. Watching him sitting ahead of her, she crossed her legs as she pursed her lips in anticipation.

"How could I stab my own son, you ask?" he began, rubbing his palms together as he leaned forward, "Easy. I grip the knife and position it to do its job. I hide it as best as I can, I hide it in my coat. Then, I lunge forward and go in for the kill. Quite literally, too. Now, that's how I did it physically. I've done it so many times it's basically how I _breathe_. The challenging part? How I do it mentally. I assume that's what your question was referring to. You don't have any children, I suppose, you aren't able to love someone like your own kids. You can't imagine it or grasp the concept. Maybe it was the years of tension and disagreements Edward and I shared. I was never there for him. Perhaps that's what desensitized my emotions on stabbing him. But, I couldn't look at my son in pain, seeing the blood spilling out of him. He is still my offspring, I love him. I immediately regretted it, but I talked myself into thinking it was the right decision. A strange sensation of relief and concern overwhelmed me when one of my workers alerted me that he was still alive, in the hospital. So I had to come up with plan B."

"And I suspect I'm plan B?"

"Precisely." He glared at her, studying her face. Jessie was taken back by his intense eye contact, opposite of Buzz's fidgety glances he would normally give her. "My turn to ask a question."

She cleared her throat, twitching her foot voluntarily. "Alright. We'll make this an interview process."

"Do you think you'll be Edward's priority? His _top_ priority?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Just as the question asked. Are you planning on staying in the army?"

"Just for another year to pay off my college tuition."

"Ah, so you plan to have a career. Good for you in pursuing higher education. But knowing Edward, he's staying in the military till he can get the highest rank. He's been at it for sixteen years now, ever since he first started military school. Now think about it. After a year, you go back to your own life. Where does that leave Edward?"

"W-we'll keep in contact." Zurg slowly shook his head.

"What makes you think he'll write to you? And if he does, can you develop a meaningful, long relationship over a couple of notes sent back and forth? Face it, Jessica, he won't leave the military for you. He's established his place and it's in the life of the army. Do you think he can share you and the army equally?"

"It's possible," she mumbled.

"Take it from a man who knows what he's talking about. My political career was more important that my wife as the years went by. But at least we had the chance to become close and fall in love before I pursued building an empire. How long have you been seeing my son? Have you two fallen in love yet?" He observed her posture slouching a bit as her eyes searched something to her left and snap back into his dark orbs. "What about marriage? Will he fly to your city just to get married for a day and return to work? His rank will grow so he will be more involved at his job, his career."

"Yeah…" she croaked, playing with her hands.

"What about you're chances at being a wife? Having a husband. Do you think he can be a good husband to you? A good father? Will he neglect his kids?"

"He won't make the same mistakes as _you_." Zurg declined her hostility with the wave of his hand.

"You're a beautiful young lady. You deserve happiness and love. Edward isn't able to provide that. Not all of it. It will be divided. I would hate to see a daughter-in-law who went down the same path as Darla." Getting up to walk off, Zurg put on his mask as Jessie clenched her teeth and blinked hard.

* * *

><p>Buzz Lightyear stretched his arms as he walked over to the window at the opposite side of his office. Trixie watched his outline traced by the orange glow of the sun and stifled a giggle. Holding his arms behind him, he rocked on his heels to the balls of his feet as he caught glimpses of the photos on his walls.<p>

"Happy to be back from the hospital?" Trixie probed, tapping her pencil on her lap.

"It's nice to have some color back in my life," he admitted jeeringly as he plopped into his chair. "It's gets boring after a while staring at blank, white walls." He attained the plant at the corner of his desk and notice the buds of the flowers had started to blossom. "I've noticed you've been taking care of my chrysanthemums, Trixie." Her mouth dropped in playful shock as she strolled over to his desk.

"Trixie, huh?" she noted, "I thought we had a 'no-nickname' rule here."

"Yes, but it suits you so well." Trixie settled herself in the seat ahead of the desk as she set her briefcase down.

"My, are _you_ in a good mood!" Trixie exclaimed, pulling out an electronic device, "So I've sent out all the letters to those who you want to by in part of the guerilla attack throughout the week. You wanted them to meet you in the auditorium at eight in the nighttime, correct?"

"That sounds about right. Let me see the list again." Reading the screen, he heard the door open and looked up to see Woody standing in the doorframe. "Good morning Woody! How can I help?"

"Good morning, Buzz. Morning, Trixie," he greeted, smoothing his hair, "How are you, Buzz?"

"I'm doing great! Thank you for asking."

"I better get going," Trixie cut in, leaving the room.

"I didn't see Jessie this morning," Wood continued after the door shut closed, "I figured that she would be here."

"I didn't see her," Buzz admitted, seeing Woody's distress, "Maybe we'll see her tonight. I'm sure she's practicing shooting her gun again. If she's not here by tonight, I'll make an announcement to those who are staying here to lookout for her." Woody's stare lingered at the window's view outside.

"You don't suppose she's been…harmed in anyway, do you? I mean, there has been trespassing…" Buzz furrowed his eyebrows as he knocked on his desk.

"No, I was with her last night," he finally answered, "I saw her. She was fine. She was fine."

* * *

><p>"Lets go! Lets go!" Buzz whispered, checking behind him to see the remaining soldiers. The rest of the guerillas had spread throughout the palace, destroying all the cameras in sight and fighting off the oppressive guards. "You five go down that hallway," he commanded, reaching for his communication device, "Lightyear to Pride, we have made it to the main entry way. Where are you?" Hearing Woody's voice from the speaker, he notified Buzz that they had made it into what appeared to be the meeting room while Dolly was in the back with her militia. "OK, stay on guard and survey your surroundings," he commanded, turning to the soldiers, "Position yourselves, I'm going in." Watching them reloading their guns Buzz faced the hallway ahead of him.<p>

Buzz snuck into a dim room, slowly pulling down on his jacket zipper. Approaching a corner of two conjoining walls, he heard unrecognizable voices and quickly pressed his back against the wall behind him to keep himself hidden from their sight in the other room. He slipped his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket, his fingers coiling his gun handle.

"C'mon!" he heard a voice say, "The cameras show that the fight broke out in the second hall!" Footsteps grew closer to Buzz and tension swelled up in his chest.

_Where do I go now? They'll catch me!_ he thought to himself, thinking of an immediate plan.

Squinting his eyes to readjust to the dark atmosphere, he spotted another door in front of him. Swiftly in one fluid motion, he turned the handle and let himself inside while softly closing the door in silence. The settings of the new room heavily contrasted the rest of the empire. It wasn't a very large room but very elaborate in its designs. The window and door frames were lined with exquisite green colored glass. As Buzz walked closer to observe it more thoroughly, it seemed to be genuine emerald. Looking down, the marble floor glowed a shade of amethyst. The amount of furniture pieces were scarce, excluding the set of couches that surrounded a glass table in the furthest corner. A giant chandelier hung over the setting. The surrounding as a whole seemed to belong to a man of royalty.

_Or somebody who's trying to achieve it_.

Turning around to find an escape, Buzz found himself facing a floor-to-ceiling fish tank. There was a reflection Buzz saw in the glass. He stood frozen in time, watching it, as it grew larger until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Twisting to see who it was, his nose barely contacted with the mask that he stared into.

"Zurg," Buzz announced as his body stiffened. Stillness filled the little space between them.

"I've got something you want," Zurg informed, pressing a button on his belt. Buzz shifted his attention to a scrolling door that left an opening with Jessie stumbling out to her knees.

"Jessie!" he called out, halted by Zurg's gloved hand.

"She was not hurt in any way," he pointed out, walking over to the cowgirl and grabbed her arm to pull her up, "Isn't that right, Miss Jessica?" After Jessie shook her head wordlessly, Zurg peered to his offspring again. "Now you have something I want."

"Let her go, Zurg!" Buzz demanded, holding up his gun.

"Fine," Zurg obeyed, throwing Jessie to the ground as she emitted a small yelp. "We are we fighting Edward? Come join me."

"Never!"

"Let me make myself clear. Join me in ruling my empire and overthrowing the government," he clarified, pulling out his weapon, "Or she gets it." Buzz's arms grew limp.

"You _wouldn't_." Sliding back, Jessie got to her feet wide-eyed.

"Make your decision, Edward." Buzz brought his gun back to eye-level, figuring out the distance between himself and Zurg. _If I could just shoot the gun out of his hand…_he thought. "Too late!" Zurg announced, pulling the trigger. The next series of events happened in a flash, Buzz had no idea what had happened in the following moments. He shut his eyes in alarm and squeezed the trigger involuntarily. He slowly opened his eyes to find his father on the ground, his arm moving over his chest. Buzz soon ran towards him and dropped to his knees, taking a good look at his father.

"I-I'm so sorry," Buzz whispered, grabbing his hand, "I-I didn't mean to. I w-wish things d-didn't have to be this way. I'm so…" Reaching to take off his mask, Buzz dropped it after his face was revealed. His eyelids fluttered uneasily, flashing the whites of his eyes sporadically. Much to Buzz's surprise, a weak grin grew on Zurg's face as he gripped Buzz's hand tighter.

"I know you're sorry, son." He motioned for Buzz to lean in. "You've taken care of one obstacle in your life. Now focus on finding happiness." Releasing coughs and letting go of Buzz's hand, he shut his eyes as his chest stopped moving. Before Buzz had time to let his feeling of grief sink in, he heard his name.

"Buzz! Help!" Jessie shriek, gritting her teeth as she wrapped her arms around her torso. She rolled her forehead to meet the tile floor as her legs pulled in. Buzz quickly ran over to her and rested her head in his arms.

"Jessie!" he gasped, looking at her wound in her mid-section. "The shot didn't go through you, which is odd for a laser gun. Just breath regularly, everything will be alright." Jessie watched Buzz speak into his communication device and gripped his forearm excruciatingly. He leaned in to give a small kiss on her perspiring forehead. "Don't worry, help is on the way."

* * *

><p>Opening her eyes and fighting her unconsciousness, she found herself being carried into the back of a spaceship with scrambling nurses setting up a gurney. She looked up at her brother holding her, not completely sure where she was. He set her down gently on the gurney as she quickly started to sit up.<p>

"I'm right here, Jess," Woody spat out as he carefully pushed her head down on the pillow. He turned to Bo by his side. "Buzz is traveling on a different ship with the body. I'll stay here with her," he informed, closing the doors after him. A bundle of orderlies rushed up to the wounded female. Confused, Jessie started to fidget and squirm away from them. She felt one nurse tapping her arm.

"Clench your wrist like this sweetheart," the doctor ordered. "It's for your IV."

"Woody," Jessie murmured, feeling his hands holding her face.

"I'm right here, Jess, just look at me." He saw Bo from the corner of his eye and brought his attention to her again. "Buzz called me on the walkie talkie. He said that he killed Zurg and that Jessie was hurt. I carried her from the main palace room to this truck. She was shot in the stomach, but she seems to be having a reaction from the laser."

"Alright," Bo said, grabbing test tubes, "We need to draw her blood. She's showing serious symptoms." She turned to Woody with anxiety in her expression. "This could be fatal."

**Dun dun DUUUN! Please review!**


	9. The Discussion

**Hi! So just a warning, this chapter will tend to be melodramatic. BUT, it'll probably be the most soap opera-ish chapter out of the whole story.**

Edward Lightyear wiped his hands on his thighs as he watched the television at the top corner of the room. He grew familiar to the cold, sanitary environment and had an odd feeling in his chest. He observed the anchorwoman speaking and noticed the thin strip of phrases scrolling across at the bottom of the screen. A picture of Zurg was then shown followed by yellow letters that spelled out 'Zurg dead'.

…_was captured and killed by Captain Edward Lightyear last night at approximately nine o'clock. The Galactic Alliance have taken custody of the body and have yet decided what action to take next. We have spoken with General Porkham and he calls it a significant moment in history that he, along with his colleagues and soldiers, are proud to be a part of._

Zoning out the woman's voice, Buzz leaned his head back and blew out a slow breath through his thin lips. Deep down, he had always led to believe that somehow, against all odds, he could rectify his dysfunctional relationship with his father. He wanted to capture him but not for him to be killed, especially when he was responsible for the shot. Guilt overwhelmed him, from both the death of his father and the hospitalization of Jessie. Hearing his name, Buzz jerked his head up and found himself glimpsing into Woody's brown eyes. He noted the dimness around his russet orbs from exhaustion as a frown seemed to be etched onto his face. Buzz jumped onto his feet, wringing the ends of his jacket.

"How is she?" he asked. Woody swung his arms out and let them slap to his sides.

"Not good," he croaked, falling into a chair as he rubbed his face.

"I-I am so sorry, Woody," Buzz stammered, sitting next to his counterpart as he carefully shook his shoulder, "I-I should've done something. _Anything_. I was so preoccupied with the guerilla attacks when you told me she was missing, I should've done more. A-and it's all my fault for her being injured. I tried to stop him, but I was too late. I didn't even realize she was shot till she called out my name, I'm so sorry. It's…i-it's all my fault."

"No, no it's not…." his voice trailed off, uninterested to talk to the rambling space ranger. Buzz began to speak again and apologize, but he noticed his friend's defeated demeanor.

"Woody, get some rest," Buzz's low voice requested. The cowboy turned to him, giving him a disapproving look.

"I can't leave Jessie," Woody argued, "Not like this, she needs me."

"Woody, you've been with her for thirteen hours straight now, downing coffee and taking catnaps. Have some rest, it's not healthy for you to stay up like this." He continued to glare at Buzz. "As your captain, military leader, and friend, I order you to get some rest."

"What about you?" Woody questioned, "What are you going to do?"

"Well I just got back from the conference. I'm going to pay Jessie a little visit," he told him, "After dealing with my father's body, I need to face another thought that's been circling around my head." Woody planted and stretched his legs until he was standing and Buzz followed suit. Woody motioned Bo over from the desk.

"What is it, Woody?" Bo asked, glancing at the clock that showed the day was in its tenth hour in the morning.

"Status on Jessie's condition?"

Bo took a deep sigh. "She's not getting any better. Not getting worse," she spat out, raising her palm, "But she's not improving. The doctors have been looking in the labs at her blood samples and they have found traces of mercury. We are treating her right now for high mercury poisoning, which explains some of her symptoms. She also has third and fourth degree burns in her flesh that we are taking care of as well. However, there's another foreign substance in her blood that leaves the scientists baffled. Whatever it is, we are assuming that could be a large contributing factor to her condition." She turned to Buzz. "Captain Lightyear, you say she was shot by Zurg's laser gun?"

"Correct."

"Do you know what components are in the fuel cells that make up the beams in that gun? There's no gun fuel in our system that seems to match the substance in her bloodstream. It seemed as if what ever was it Zurg's ammo had dissolved into her system."

"I'm sorry," Buzz mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows, "I don't." A pause came between the three fiddling associates.

"Well, we'll continue looking," Bo informed, heading into the hallways. "Now if you'll excuse me, gentlemen."

"If you want to head over there…" Woody yawned, pointing to the patients' rooms. "Room 158." Watching his friend push the door open to let himself out, Buzz steered himself into the hallways, finding himself facing a variety of nurses and doctors rolling around patients and supplies. Dodging the rushing staff members, he finally spotted the nameplate that shown the number '158'. He gradually swung the door open and saw a meek body swallowed by the white covers on the hospital bed. The back of her head faced him, exposing her crimson hair that was spread out on the pillow she laid on. Stepping softly over to her hospital bed, he quietly called out her name apprehensively. There was no response. Trying it again, she didn't reply so he caressed his hand on her pale arm. Startling her, she whipped her head around, her eyes wide and recoiling in slightly.

"Jessie, it's me," he whispered, his face falling. Her scared expression had not been vanishing from her visage, "Captain Lightyear." He watched her blink furiously as she pushed herself slightly to straighten her posture. As he reached for her hand, she withdrew it and placed it on her chest. "It's Buzz."

"W-where's…" she moaned, her eyes darting around the room, "Where…where's Woody? Or Bo?" Buzz dropped into a squatting position to make himself eye-level with her. Her once vibrant emerald eyes had currently a bloodshot, hazy appearance that gave them lifelessness. Buzz noticed her skin hugged her bone structure more taught than usual, giving her a dehydrated aspect. Licking her insipid, chapped lips, Buzz tenderly swiped off a stray hair from her forehead.

"Jessie-" he broke off, watching her close her eyes as she clenched her jaw. His second attempt to hold her hand was successful. "I hate seeing you like this. I never wished for any of this to happen. I feel terrible." He breathed out a nervous chuckle. "Words are nothing." Her eyes shot open and she turned her head to him in one fluid movement.

"Why didn't ya stop him?" she inquired, her voice weak, "It seemed as if you didn't care that he caught me. You just stood there pointin' your gun at him." Buzz's eyebrows drew together in shock.

"Jessie, I was _terrified_. I tried to shoot that _gun _out of his hand, preventing him from hurting you, but I was too late. I didn't want him to know how important you were to me. Everything happened so fast, all in a flash. I didn't realize how long I had been standing there, or if it was even a long time at all. I didn't want to make any sudden movements with Zurg, I couldn't trust him." Jessie turned to face the window on the opposite side of the room, squeezing his hand to let him know she was still listening. He heard her muffle the word 'fine', her torso collapsing. "You're angry at me for other reasons. Jessie, what else is on your mind?"

"Your father had a conversation with me before your arrival." She turned to look at him, the expression seeping back into her eyes. "He said that you would neglect me and focus on your job here. Just like he did with your mother." Buzz stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"I will not neglect you. I'll stay here throughout you hospital stay, your service time-"

"I've only got one more year, Buzz," she interjected impatiently, "One more year of service and I'm flyin' back to Texas." She took a pause and swallowed hard. "If I even make it out of this damn hospital."

"Jessie, please don't say such a thing. We have the most skillful scientists figuring your problem and finding a solution to it."

She gritted her teeth. "Are we goin' to write letters to each other for the rest of our lives? How will that be a meaningful relationship?" Jessie saw the pained look on Buzz's face and closed her eyes in shame. "I want this to work. Believe me, I do. But how _will_ it work, Buzz?" He slightly opened his mouth, pondering of what to say next. "I know I'm not in any position to tell you this, but you should resign from your position."

"W-what?" he replied.

"You got Zurg, Buzz. That's what you've been fighting for your whole time here. You never had a childhood. You deserve a good life. To be outside and not callin' out orders. It'll be good for you, good for _us._"

Buzz pressed his lips together as he played with the medical bracelet on her arm and traced his eyes to her IV.

"I'll see you later tonight, OK?" he blurted out, "We can talk about this another time." He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek but she shifted her head away from him. "Jessie?" She turned to look at him again, her eyes glistening as she inhaled uneasily.

"You can't just woo me, Mr. Lightyear," her shaky voice told him with a grin. "We've got important things to talk about. So bring your A-game next time you come by, you hear?" Buzz emitted a hearty laugh.

"Yes, ma'am." She watched him walked out and heard the door close. A tear rolled down her cheek into her hairline with Buzz's word's still ringing in her mind.

_I never wished for any of this to happen…_

***Facepalm* Cheesy, I know. Leave a review.**


	10. The Breakfast

**Long time no see.**

The sound of the door creak jolted the redhead into awareness. Slowly opening her hands on her midsection, she noted the beams through the blinds adjacent to her bed reflected on her palms. As she took a deep breath, she winced at the soreness of her injured body. She mumbled mindless phrases to herself, a daily routine she has developed since adolescence whenever she awoke from rest, and noticed a dim figure being outlined by the windows. Squinting to readjust her slumber vision, she caught eye contact and grunted. She grumbled another slew of words, this time in hopes for her visitor to hear.

"Tarnations, forgot where I was for a moment," she noted, stretching out her arm. "Go ahead, draw it out." The man grinned and reached for the stool that had been set under the bed.

"You're certainly getting use to this hospital thing fast now, aren't ya?" his warm voice questioned as he supported her arm with his grip.

"Well, I've had who knows how many blood tests done to me already in less than eighteen hours," she jested half-heartedly, turning her head away from the nurse. "Yet I still can't watch it," she added with a forced giggle, slightly shivering at the coolness of the alcohol swab rubbed on her skin. Rubbing her forehead with her index finger and thumb, she closed her eyes again as felt the prick of the needle.

"Your brother is downstairs in the cafeteria getting food for the both of you," he informed.

"Woody's here?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as she turned her head to look his direction. "For how long?" As the man ran his fingers through his curly, blonde hair, he held his wrist to his face, reading his watch.

"It's 11:03 in the morning now," he calculated, "So he arrived about two hours ago. He checked on your condition with the nurses and went straight to your room." A grin expanded across Jessie's expression as her thoughts brought her brother to her mind. "I take it that you two are close?"

"You bet," she gleefully answered, tilting her chin up slightly. Her eyebrows then furrowed, creasing her forehead in concern. "Mind if I call ya Buttercup?" The orderly gently pulled the medical instrument from her arm and quick exchanged the syringe with a cotton swab to press down against her forearm. A sense of minute shock rose to his face as he dismissed a chuckle.

"Buttercup?"

"Yeah," her feeble voice murmured. "It'll make me feel better." Buttercup moved his head slightly to the left and pursed his lips, evaluating his new nickname.

"Alright, Buttercup it is Miss…?"

"Shouldn't my name be on the clipboard?" The blonde stick up his index finger and waved it in the air majestically.

"Uh-uh, I get to have the privilege of having an outrageous nickname and you don't? Now that's not fair."

"Call me Jessie. Or Jess if you _really_ want to be out there." The man stared at her for a moment.

"I'll think of _something_ for you," he promised, pushing his stool back away from her bed. "Jessie." The cowgirl's emerald orbs traced the ceiling tile, her lips parting slightly. Her breathing was slow and quiet, a contrast with the machines emitting beeping sounds surrounding her. Looking at Buttercup again, her relaxed jaw clenched. "What, do you rather me call you Jess?" he joked, leaning towards her. Opening her mouth again, her eyes searched the room frantically.

"H-how am I doin'? Am I getting' better?" Buttercup's face fell softly, but the warmness in his visage remained intact.

"Your condition is the same as when you first got in, Jessie. Are you feeling alright?" She shook her head once, biting her bottom lip.

"Have you ever seen a patient…die here before?" He place a bandage on her, choosing his words carefully. A long pause filled up the space between them.

"No hospital is perfect, Jessie," Buttercup responded openly, reaching for her pale hand. "But we are giving you the remedies and care you need. We are all rooting for you, just like we do with each and every individual we have and will treat." Their attention was brought towards the sound of the door handle being jiggled. A familiar slender frame stood in the doorway carefully balancing two trays of assorted dishes. Jessie lit up at the sight of her brother wearing his trademark cowboy hat. Boy, had she missed that hat.

"Hey howdy hey," Woody greeted, closing the door with his boot. _It's about time that military character of his broke down_, Jessie thought to herself noticing her brother bracing his country roots again. "Okey dokey," he murmured, setting down the trays on the table in front of him. Butter immediately jumps to catch the other tray that had almost slipped from Woody's grasp. "Boy that was a close one!" he exclaimed, then turning to his sister. He pulled off the tops of the food containers and kissed the air. "Wah-la! It may not be Momma's home cooking, but it certainly beats the military food we had to stuff down our throats." Buttercup excused himself out of the room and Woody listed the dishes he brought. "There's a nice ham sandwich, some peas, a peach and to top it all off, banana pudding." Come to think of it, Jessie _had _started to feel hunger pains_…_

"I take it you haven't eaten since yesterday?" Woody kidded, witnessing his sister devouring her sandwich.

"I wahs savin' muh energy fuh thish moment," she admitted, trying not to spit the lettuce at Woody. A smirk came across his face as her watched his sister. Leisurely, he unzipped his coat and dug his hand into his pocket. Revealing a letter to Jessie, he held it out so that she can read the name. _Buzz_. As she swallowed her food, she snatched the envelope from his hand and unexpectedly held it up to the light.

"He told me that you're angry at him," Woody whispered. She tossed the letter onto the chair next to her bed, opening the packet of plastic utensils in front of her. "Gonna respond?" She glanced at him and poked at her peas.

"Funny," she said, pushing out a giggle, "Remember when I was little and I never wanted to eat peas because I thought that they were cut up caterpillars? Even growin' up, that image disturbed me. It wasn't until recently when I decided to give them a try. Can't say they're my favorite or anythin', but I can tolerate them. Interestin' that you would still give them to me, though." She looked up at Woody again, seeing that he still held the same expression. She fixated her glare on his plate, his food untouched. "Woody, you really should eat. You don't wanna get any thinner, now."

"Are you going to respond to him? Or to my previous question, if at all?" He knew how his sister was. She could hold the best grudges that he ever knew. Usually they were misunderstandings, too. She makes assumptions, interpreting how others felt and react in certain situations. Her imagination was creative and broad, but sometimes to her disadvantage. However, unexpectedly, seeing the brims of her eyes shine, he tensed up. Her vulnerability was nothing like he had ever seen. Her lips were striking, almost a shade of crimson, that stood out from her fragile cheeks.

"I…I don't want to talk about it," she squeaked. Gently pushing the rolling table from her lap, she declared that she had lost her appetite.

"Jess, I-"

"You didn't do anything wrong, Woody." She slipped her arms around his torso and rested her head on his shoulder. "Promise…promise you'll never leave me?" Woody pressed his lips in her hair.

"I won't leave you, Jessie. I never abandon the ones I love." Suddenly he felt her body form into his with a sigh of relief.

**Just a filler chapter. I'm trying to get into the groove of things again :-)**


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